Love is like dominoes
by Xment2bursX
Summary: ... Just one slip and everything falls. Richard and Kori used to be best friends before she moved away. Coming back several years later to join him in high school, she finds that time changes people. AU, rating may change. Chap 7 up, at last!
1. Not a good start

**Disclaimer: If I owned TT the show would be **_**very**_** different.**

**AN: Richard and Kori used to be best friends before she moved away. Coming back several years later to join him in high school, she finds that time changes people. AU.**

**Kori is Starfire.**

**Dick is Robin.**

**Gar is Beastboy.**

**Victor is Cyborg.**

**Rachel is Raven.**

**Karen is Bumblebee.**

**Garth is Aqualad.**

**Roy is Speedy.**

**Wally is Kid Flash.**

**Jinx is… Jinx.**

**Kitten is… Kitten.**

**Chapter one: Not a good start.**

A young girl chewed nervously on a finger nail as she eyed herself and her outfit in a full-length mirror. She had played it as safe as possible for clothes; dark jeans, a purple tank top and purple flip-flops but was still worried that she wouldn't fit in at her new school. She, her sister and their father had just moved to America from Europe and this would be Kori's first day in high school. She hadn't been in America for over ten years and was terribly worried that it would show.

'_Maybe I should have taken Dad's offer to home-school me…'_

The girl shook her head to rid herself of such thoughts. She needed to get out there and start a new life, and, unfortunately, high school was the best way to do so. Sighing, Kori continued to pull at her outfit, wrinkling her nose at it despite the fact that it was fine.

"Kori! Move it or you're walking!"

Raising an eyebrow at her sister's shout, Kori quickly checked that her long red hair was in place and that her make up wasn't smudged before grabbing her bag and running through the halls and down a long staircase. Kori couldn't help but wonder why her Dad would buy such a large houses when there were only three of them in it. Her older sister, Korma, was tapping her foot impatiently when she arrived at the door.

"'Bout time." She said, rolling her dark eyes.

Kori mumbled her apology as they walked out the door and to Korma's car. Once they were in Kori turned in her seat to tilt her head at her sister's hair.

"Dad is so going to kill you when he sees." Korma just grinned and flicked her newly blackened hair over her shoulder. True, it _did_ look good on her as it matched her dark eyes but Kori would never tell her that; they might be sisters but they certainly weren't friends. Korma's snort brought Kori out of her thinking.

"Yeah, _when_ he sees." Kori frowned. They're Dad was away a lot and barely saw them, but he did work hard to provide the best for his daughters. "Besides, I doubt he'll even notice!" They sat the rest of the trip in silence, the radio being the only source of noise until they pulled up in to the school's car park. Out of the car, they didn't bother to say goodbye as they went they're separate ways.

Kori walked through the large halls of the school, looking around in a slight daze while trying not to bump into anyone. The halls were completely crowded though, and it didn't take her long for her shoulder to crash into someone else's and make them both drop their bags.

"Omff!"

"Ow!" Kori quickly ducked down, blushing as she heard people laugh as they passed them, to pick up her bag along with a bright pink one. Straightening, she passed the pink item to the blonde girl she had bumped into.

"God, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to -"

"Geez, watch where you're going you idiot!" The blonde said loudly, her friends snickering behind her. "Those things on your face, your eyes? Use 'em, huh?!"

Kori blushed more, stuttering out an apology as the girl rolled her eyes. The rude girl opened her mouth, probably to say something to make Kori even more embarrassed, when another voice, more confident and hard than the other girls, joined in.

"And why don't _you_ use _your_ eyes to rethink your fashion taste." The blonde gasped and then narrowed her eyes at the dark, black-haired tall girl who was heading towards them. "She was probably blinded by that thing you call a bag."

Squaring her shoulders and Kori forgotten, the blonde sneered. "This doesn't concern you, Karen."

"Anything that annoys you, concerns me." Karen replied sweetly. Huffing, the blonde turned away, snatching her bag and throwing her hair over her shoulder as she started down the hall again. Her friends, giggling slightly, followed after her. The girl who had defended her, Karen, moved towards Kori, smiling.

"Ignore Kitten, she's like that to almost everyone." Kori giggled. "I'm Karen… You new? I haven't seen you before…"

Kori nodded quickly. "Yes, I just moved here. I'm Kori. And thank you, by the way."

Karen snorted and waved her hand as she started walking down the hall to the lockers. "No problem, annoying Kitten is always fun so it was my pleasure. So, Kori, huh? Nice name."

Looking along the wall of lockers for her new number, Kori smiled warmly. "Thanks. Ah!" Pulling out a slip of paper, Kori quickly turned the dial for the right amount of numbers before trying to open it. She sighed in relief that it opened straight away. Looking down the hall, she noticed Karen was only a few feet away, now talking to a red haired boy.

"Hiya, neighbour." Kori jumped at the voice behind her, throwing her bag up. The owner of the voice reached out to grab it before it hit the floor. Kori pressed and hand to her chest and turned, blushing, to look at the person who had startled her.

It was a boy this time, pale - especially compared with Kori's tanned skin - with long black hair and very dark eyes. He blushed slightly, holding out her bag to her.

"Heh, sorry about that. I didn't mean to scare you…"

Smiling, Kori took her bag. "It's ok, I should have been paying attention." The boy opened the locker next to hers and she understood what he had met by 'neighbour'. Looking up, they saw Karen and the boy she had been talking to walking over.

"Ah, see you two have met." Karen said. She motioned to Kori. "Boys, this is Kori, she's just moved here. Kori, this is Garth," She pointed at the black haired boy. "And this is Wally." The red head grinned at her and waved, bouncing on the balls of his feet and looking completely hyper.

"Hiya, nice to meet ya -"

"Yo, Dick! Go long!"

Wally, moving extremely fast, jumped out the way as a ball flew towards the group with a spiky-black-haired boy racing after it, completely oblivious to the group he was about to run into. The next thing Kori, Karen and Garth knew, the ball had smacked Garth round the head hard and the boy chasing it ran straight into the two girls.

The whole hall burst out laughing at the scene. The pile of three people groaned as one, pulling away from each other in an attempt to de-tangle themselves. Karen got out first and yanked the boy to his feet to yell at him. At the same time, Garth shook his head and picked up the ball, spinning on his heels and instantly locating the boy who had thrown it in their direction his and Karen's yells intermingled.

"Grayson! -"

"Harper! -"

"- What the hell is wrong with you?! Look where your going -"

"- You prick, Roy! You knew we were here -"

"- Such an idiot, why cant you think before you do something so -"

"- And yet you threw this god-damned ball at us regardless to the fact that your friend is stupid enough not to look where he's going -"

Kori blinked as the argument continued. 'Harper' - the ginger haired boy that had thrown the ball - had immediately taken the chance to fight with Garth and had already jumped into it. Wally and Karen - forgetting 'Grayson' temporally - moved to tear the two boys from each other, knowing that they wouldn't hesitate to start a physical fight. Meanwhile, the boy that had ran into them leant down to help Kori up. Standing, she sighed.

"This is so not my day…" She groaned, forgetting the boy was there. He tilted his head at her.

"You're new, yeah?"

Nodding she turned to him and was immediately caught of guard by his bright blue eyes that shone as he smiled at her. He held his hand out. "I'm Dick."

"K-Kori." She shook his hand quickly and tried to move back, but he gripped her hand an pulled her closer, looking at her intently.

"Kori…" He muttered and then his eyes went wide. "Kori Anders?" Wally, now holding the other red head by the waist, looked over with mild interest.

"Err…Yes." She raised an eyebrow as his face broke out into a large grin. "Do… I know you?"

He nodded excitedly. "You used to live here before, right? We used to be good friends! It's Richard Grayson." Kori looked confused for a second but then an image of a small boy with messy black hair, a dirt streaked face and sky blue eyes entered her mind and recognition dawned on her face.

"Oh…! Richard!" Karen was watching now too - as Kori hugged Richard hard - one arm round Garth's waist and the other yanking his hair. As they pulled back, the bell went, signalling the start of morning registration.

Scowling, Richard stepped back. "We'll talk later!" He waved as she nodded and turned around, grabbing Roy my the scruff of the neck as Wally let go and pulled him away. Karen finally released Garth's hair and gave him a whack on the head before moving to Kori.

"You know Dick?" Kori nodded and Karen paused, ignoring Garth yelling her and Wally tapping his foot impatiently. "Hmm… You'll have to tell me everything in class, c'mon."

* * *

"So, lemme get this straight." Karen said slowly. It had taken all morning registration to fill Karen in on her past with Richard and now they sat in French as she reviewed the situation. "You and Dick were great friends at age 5?" Kori nodded. "Then you moved and you haven't heard from him since?" More nodding.

"Typical guy." The violet haired girl next to Karen muttered. Rachel, as she had been introduced, was a very different girl than Kori. She had violet hair with blue - almost purple - eyes, outlined in black with dark makeup on her very pale face. She was shorter than Kori, and possibly thinner too. It was hard tell with the fact that she was still wearing a long blue coat, hood up, despite being inside.

Wally, who was sitting next to her with his feet up on the table and completing their table, feigned being hurt. "Ouch, Rae! You don't have to hate all us guys just because your boyfriend dumped yo -"

"Malchior did not dump me." Rachel said through tightly gritted teeth. "And don't call me that!"

Wally and Karen snorted. "Girl, when was the last time you saw him?"

Rachel glared at Karen. "Two weeks ago, but he's in hospital for god's sake! He got in another fight with that damn Rorek guy."

"If you ask me those two spend way to much time fighting to be not doing each other." Wally mumbled, flinching as Rachel sent a soul-killing glare at him.

"Yeah, well. Roy and Garth fight all the time, you saying those two are doing the nasty?" They all paused before bursting into laughter; not only did the two boys hate each other, but Roy was straight and he had a girlfriend. A very scary, though pretty, girl called Jade. Catching her breath, Karen turned to Kori again. "So, tell us, princess. What was the great Dick Grayson like before?"

Kori paused. "Well, from what I remember, he was very sweet. I think we knew each other for… three years before I moved and we were quite close."

Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Dick, sweet? That's something I never thought I'd hear."

"Oh?" Kori lent forwards - casting a glance at the teacher. "Why?"

Karen shrugged, leaning back comfortably, obviously not caring if she got told off. "Dicky-boy's at the top of his game, here. He's the most popular guy in school." Kori wasn't completely sure why he couldn't be sweet if he was popular but she shrugged it off.

"Yup, and I can't wait to see him fall of his pedestal." Rachel smirked.

Wally rolled his blue eyes. "C'mon, Dick's not that bad. He's probably the nicest of all the jocks… Minus me, of course."

Rachel just groaned.

Karen giggled and looked at Kori to fill her in. "Wally's in with the jocks 'cos he's a runner." At this, Wally grinned and picked up his bright yellow jumper with the uncials FBA on it in red with a lightning bolt under it. He told her later that it had been a gift from some of the jocks he hanged with after winning some inter-school competition. Kori eyed the jumper before turning back to Karen. "But he hangs out with us losers 'cos of Victor Stone and his girlfriend."

Wally scowled, now actually offended. "It is not!"

Rachel gave a very small laugh. "I thought it was because his hyperness was too much, even for them." She paused, as though thinking about it. "Na, you're probably right."

As the two bickered, Karen pointed over to a large dark boy sitting on a table with another boy and two girls. "That's Victor." She said and then pointed to the boy across from him. "And that's Garfield, his best friend. The blonde next to him is Terra, Gar's girlfriend. And the girl next to Victor is Jinx; Vic's girl." Gar was a small boy with blonde hair and green eyes, he was talking loudly, some joke that only Terra laughed at. Terra was as small as her boyfriend with long blonde hair and blue eyes. Jinx stood out form the other three, with pale skin and bright pink hair gelled up into horn-like shapes and eyes with contacts in that made them seem like pink cats eyes. Karen seemed to notice Kori's observation.

"She's not a jock. Or a cheerleader." Kori guessed that this meant that Terra was in the cheer squad. "She's a punk, doesn't normally hang around with Vic's lot and prefers to make him hang with her gang." Karen wrinkled her nose. "Her gang is bad news."

Wally hear this and frowned. "Her gang is, yes. But not her!" He turned his eyes onto the girl and the three girls saw his expression melt into one that resembled a love-sick puppy. "She's different…" He murmured.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Her kind don't change, Wally." She looked at Kori, dark eyes gleaming. "Wally has a crush on her, has for years."

Wally snapped his head to look at the giggling girls. "I do not!" He all but screamed. Jinx looked up at him at the sound and he immediately went as red as his hair.

Karen snorted. "No, Rae." Rachel's eye twitched at the nick name and Kori swore she was counting to ten. Karen smiled wickedly at Wally. "He loves her!" She sang. The three girls snickered as Jinx looked over again, looking unimpressed at the behaviour. Wally slumped down and buried his face in his arms.

"I need new friends…"

**I did start another school fic, 'Hive for all', but that's on hiatus for now, because I have no idea where its going. But I've always wanted to do a school fic. This one's different to 'Hive for all' as this one has no powers in it. **

**Pairings for this one will be later… once I've figured it all out. :sweat drop: But there will be 'starting pairings' and 'eventual pairings'. Which means some people are gonna get dumped.**

**This is the opening chapter - thus is why it sucks! - the next one will be going into more details of the character's personalities, feelings to other people, emotions, blah, blah, blah. **

**:Looks at time: Damn, I should not stay up till one in the morning typing. I'm sure it's not good for me… :shrugs: Oh well.**

**R and R, if you please. **

**x**


	2. Learning about the clicks

**Disclaimer: If I owned TT the show would be **_**very**_** different.**

**AN: Richard and Kori used to be best friends before she moved away. Coming back several years later to join him in high school, she finds that time changes people. AU.**

**Kori is Starfire.**

**Dick is Robin.**

**Gar is Beastboy.**

**Victor is Cyborg.**

**Rachel is Raven.**

**Karen is Bumblebee.**

**Garth is Aqualad.**

**Roy is Speedy.**

**Wally is Kid Flash.**

**Jinx is… Jinx.**

**Terra is… Terra**

**Kitten is… Kitten.**

**Jade is Cheshire.**

**Malchior is… Malchior.**

**Rorek is… Rorek.**

**Korma is Blackfire.**

**Xavier is Red X.**

**Chapter two: Learning about the clicks.**

Looking nervously around the large dinning hall, Kori smiled when she saw Karen wave a hand at her. Wally, who either didn't think that Kori had seen them or just wanted to make an idiot out of himself, took it a step further by jumping up on the table and waving both arms around crazily. Rachel rolled her eyes while Garth and Karen laughed, yanking him back down as Kori walked over and settled in a seat. She eyed the food and caught Rachel's eye as the other three argued.

"No, it doesn't get better and yes, you should probably bring a home-lunch from now on." Rachel said in a monotone voice. Kori blinked.

"How'd you know I was gonna say that?"

Rachel shrugged, a small smile playing her lips. Across from her, Garth smirked. "Rae-Rae is physic." He said with a wink, making the others at the table snicker. Rachel narrowed her eyes.

"My name, water-boy, is Rachel. Not Rae or Rae-Rae." Garth just rolled his eyes while Kori raised an eyebrow.

"'Water boy'?"

"Garth's a swimmer." Karen said, nodding at the dark-haired boy. "Like Wally, he could hang out with the jocks." At the same time, all their eyes slide to a few tables down where Gar, Terra, Kitten, Vic and Roy were sitting. Rachel, assuming Karen was too busy eyeing Victor to continue, carried on.

"But like West here, he also rathers to sit with us." She paused thoughtfully. "But, Wally is more in with them, he hangs out with them - so long as neither Jinx or Vic is there - sometimes. Where as Garth wouldn't go near them with a ten foot pole between them."

The table laughed, excluding Wally who was now scanning the hall. Karen rolled her eyes at him.

"Why do you bother? She aint gonna sit with us, even if you do see her before she sits with her gang."

Wally scowled, a blush making its self known on his freckled face. "I don't know what or who your talking about!" He waved an arm to dismiss the matter, and said arm went straight into someone.

The person's bag fell to the floor and Wally immediately jumped down to pick it up, as his friends burst out laughing at him, apologising the whole time. "God, I'm sorry. I didn't see you there." He straightened, holding out a dark purple bag. "Here's your -"

He broke off as his blue eyes met pink. Kori, Karen, Garth and even Rachel placed their hands over their mouths in an attempt to stop laughing. Wally stared at Jinx, mouth open slightly and unable to speak. Jinx blinked at him and reached out to take her bag, only to find he was still holding the other side of it in a strong grip.

She cleared her throat, shaking Wally out of his daze. "Err, thanks."

Releasing her bag, Wally nodded and took a step out of her way, making a sound in the back of his throat in an attempt to say something. Jinx gave him an odd look and continued passed them. Wally, looking completely stunned, sat down heavily while still staring at her as she went to her table. Not the Jock one with her boyfriend but her gang's table. The other's watched as well as she sat down; looking back over her shoulder at Wally briefly.

Wally's face broke out into a large grin and his eyes danced with excitement. He turned to his friends, who were all smirking, and lent in.

"She looked back!" He hissed, bouncing in his seat before climbing up on the table and doing a victory dance. Karen, Garth and Kori giggled at his bad attempt to dance while Rachel rolled her eyes.

"You should be careful." She warned him once he was sitting down again, she pointed at the jocks. "Her boyfriend might get jealous." They all looked over and, as Rachel had assumed, Vic was glaring openly at Wally. Wally paled slightly before shaking his head.

"Pfft, like I care what he thinks." He said coolly.

Karen sighed. "Wally, just leave it, eh? Jinx is bad news, being connected with her will only get you into trouble."

Wally narrowed his eyes, looking oddly serious for once. "And I say that Victor's bad news but you still look at him!"

Karen blushed. "I do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

The two continued to bicker, oblivious to their friends sighs. A bleak sound came from Rachel's bag and she quickly pulled out a slim black mobile. She frowned as she read the text message and typed on back with a groan. "I'm gonna have to skip today guys."

Garth tilted his head. "Oh? Why?"

Rachel pulled a face. "Turns out I need to baby sit the threesome."

Garth grimaced with her. "Ouch. Oh well, I'm sure Wally wont mind." He looked over at the runner, who was still 'Do too!'ing at Karen. "It's only practice after all."

The dark girl nodded. "Damn, I was going to go see Malchior is hospital today too." She frowned. "You wont believe it, but they've only put him and Rorek in the same freaking room!"

Kori raised an eyebrow. "Malchior is you boyfriend, yes?"

Rachel nodded. "He and Rorek, this guy he knows, hate each other and are always getting into fights. They had a big one a few nights ago and both got put in hospital."

Garth laughed. "Kinda reminds me of Dick and Red." Rachel smirked.

"Kinda reminds me of you and Roy." She shot at him. Maturely, he retorted with sticking his tongue out at her.

Kori looked confused. "Dick and who?"

Karen, having finished her argument with Wally at last, pointed over at Jinx's table. Just a few seats from the pink haired girl, was a boy with a large black jumper on, hood up. "Xavier Red, he and Dick hate each others guts." She said. "Last month they were 'accidentally' put as study partners for Math. Ten minutes later, Red had a broken nose and Dick had his arm slashed open with a compass."

"'Accidentally' being the key word." Wally said around a mouth full. "Principle Wilson likes to put people who dislike each other together when they get really bad." He shrugged. "He says that spending time together will help them sort out their differences but really, he just likes to make conflict."

Kori thought about the principle. He was a very authorative man, with a lot of pride and power. Kori had only met him for a few minutes but already disliked him and his unnerving voice. He had a patch over one eye, and the other was very intense, making you uncomfortable in his presence.

Kori shivered and looked around for a distraction. She found one easily; over at Victor's table, Richard was just joining. Kori stared as Kitten, the blonde she had bumped into earlier, threw her arms round him. Next to her Rachel pulled a face.

"Disgusting, aren't they?"

Wally looked over to where they were looking and snickered, shaking his head. "Poor, Dick. He doesn't even like her."

Karen raised an eyebrow. "Then why hasn't he broken up with her yet?"

"He was going to last week but then her dad started doing a bit of business with his." He chuckled. "Kitten has her dad wrapped around her finger. If Dick dumps his little Kitty-Cat, then the deal will be off so fast that Bruce Wayne wont know what hit him."

Rachel sighed. "How pathetic."

Kori tilted her head. "Wait, Richards only dating her so his dad will get the deal?"

Garth rubbed his neck, not wanting to lie to her but not wanting to make Dick sound bad. "Not exactly, they were dating for a few weeks before their dad's started the deal. But when Kitten caught wind that Dick was thinking of dumping her, she made her dad do business with Mr. Wayne. Dick knows that if he breaks it off with Kitten, Bruce will lose the deal."

Rachel nodded. "Kitten is incredibly manipulative. If you wanna stay friends with Dick, Kori, then don't get on Kitten's bad side."

Karen and Kori exchanged glances; both knew that the warning was too late. Looking slightly down, Kori looked back over at Richard and his table. Pulling her attention from the couple she saw someone else had joined their table.

"Hey, whose that girl? The one sitting on Roy's lap?"

"Jade." They all said, none of them bothering to look. Karen saw Kori's confused face and answered the un-asked question.

"We didn't need to look, Kor. No other girl would dare touch Roy unless they had a death wish. Jade, his girlfriend, is one scary girl. She's an expect at martial arts, goes to the same club as Dick, and once broke a girls arm because she smiled at Roy in the hall." Kori's mouth dropped open. "Jade is extremely possessive and wont hesitate to hurt you if she think's you like Roy."

Wally chuckled. "Roy's gonna be in a hell of a lot of trouble if he ever wants to dump her. She'd kill him before he got the chance." He paused, thinking. "I can't think of a way for him to get out of that relationship other than her dumping him," Kori looked over to where Jade was straddling Roy and doubted that would ever happen. "Or one of them dying."

Rachel spoke slowly, a hint of humour in her voice. "How about if he were gay?"

They all looked over at the couple again to see Jade, still straddling the boy, with her tongue down his throat. The thought of him being gay passed their minds again and they all broke out in laughter at the same time. Garth, who was the only one not laughing, stood up and mumbled something about needing the toilet. They watched him as he walked off, noticing how he walked the opposite way from the toilets.

* * *

Kori walked hesitantly into her Math class, very aware at the many people who were looking at her and laughing, none of her new friends were in this class and she didn't know anyone who was. Or so she thought. The laughs stopped as her name was called out from the back of the room.

"Kori!"

Turning, she was Richard waving at her from next to Roy and Terra. She breathed a sigh of relief before walking to the back and sitting in the spot next to Richard. He grinned at her widely as she sat.

"Hey, I was worried we would have no classes together." She smiled warmly at his happy attitude. He motioned to the end of the table where Terra sat.

"This is Terra, Gar's - Have you met Gar? No? Oh well - girlfriend." Terra waved at her and Kori smiled back. Richard then pointed to the boy in between him and Terra, who was sketching on a scrappy piece of paper. "And this is Roy, one of my best friends." When Roy didn't look up instantly, Dick smacked him upside the head. Roy glared at him for messing up his hair, he pulled out a comb from somewhere and immedietly put it back into place. Only then did he look up at Kori.

"Hey, nice to meet ya."

Kori gave a nod. Dick opened his mouth to speak when the teacher, Miss Hive, walked in and demanded silence. Kori could tell this was a strict woman who meant business and followed the rest of the class into complete silence. Almost the whole class behaved for her, save a few people on the other side of the room that Kori recognised as Jinx, Jade, Xavier and a few of their gang. Terra and Roy weren't talking, but they weren't listening either; Roy rolled his green eyes at the teacher and went back to what ever he was doing, while Terra pulled out a black and orange mobile and started texting. Richard went quiet too, but he scribbled a note quickly and threw it at Kori.

_**It's been way too long Kori, how've you been? - R**_

Kori smiled and write back, making a mental note to catch up on the work tonight.

_Yes, shame we couldn't have written to each other. I've been fine, nothing big to report. What about you? … I heard about your parents, I'm so sorry. - K_

Throwing it back, Kori wondered if it was a good idea to bring up Richards recently deceased parents. He didn't seem to mind though.

_**I don't think we thought of that when we were 5 :p Thanks. No worries though, I'm fine. I got adopted a little after they died. **_

_By Bruce Wayne, yes? _

_**Yes, he's great. You'll have to meet him sometime. **_

_I'd like that, sounds fun. _

'_**Fun'? Ha. How's your sister… ah, I've forgotten her name… **_

_Korma? She's fine, annoying and nasty, but fine. _

Another note flew and landed on Kori's desk, on the front in a neat italic print was 'Harper'. Kori quickly passed it on, Dick took a look and grimaced before passing it to Roy, who's eye twitched slightly.

_**Good. Oh, that was from Jade, Roy's scary-as-hell girlfriend. **_

Kori looked over at Jade, who was watching them through narrowed eyes.

_She certainly looks 'Scary-as-hell'. _

Roy threw the note over all their heads, his aim perfect as it landed right in front of his girlfriend. Then he whispered to Richard who whispered back quickly before turning back to his note.

_**She is, trust me. She was asking who you are. … She's a little… possessive of Roy, but don't worry! He just said you were a friend of mine. **_

Kori thought back to what Karen had said and made another mental note to thank Roy later.

_That's good._

_**So, who have you met so far?**_

_Ah…Karen, Garth, Wally, Rachel… and now Roy and Terra._

Richard frowned slightly, she would have to make friends with the only people who disliked him. She quickly added something.

_Oh! And I ran into your girlfriend… literally…_

Richard swore under his breath.

_**Oh… So you've met Kitten. I hope she wasn't mean to you, she has a tendency to… err… jump the gun a little.**_

'_A little?' _Kori thought, but she didn't right that.

_We… exchanged a few words. _

"Oh god…" Richard muttered and was about to apologise for whatever his girlfriend had done when the bell went. Cursing, he stood up and collected his things. Once he had slung his bag onto his back, he looked to the side to see that Kori had already ran out. Arching an eyebrow he looked at Terra and Roy, who both shrugged, unable to tell him why Kori had ran off so fast.

**Thanks very much to RoseXxxXThorn and CartoonStar for reviewing, I'm very glad you liked it and it made me so happy to read your reviews!**

**This chapter was probably really boring for everyone… its mainly to give you a feel of 'who's dating who' and 'who hangs out with who'. But I did get to put in a love-struck Wally… which is always fun.**

**Oh and Wally's jumper in the last chapter; I forgot to tell you what FBA stood for. It's Fastest Boy Alive. Ha, I'm so clever! Not.**

**Right, as for pairings! The 'starter pairings' are:**

**Richard & Kitten (Bleh, I know)**

**Rachel & Malchior**

**Roy & Jade**

**Victor & Jinx**

**Gar & Terra**

**Kori & Xavier**

**And probably mentions of others. Final pairings will be:**

**Richard & Kori (Yay!)**

**Rachel & Gar**

**Roy & Garth**

**Wally & Jinx**

**Victor & Karen**

**Malchior & Rorek (Now that's a crack pairing! Any fics of these two btw? I wants to read!)**

**And whoever else I think of. **

**Thanks for reading! R n R if you please.**

**x**


	3. Swearing on tofu

**Disclaimer: If I owned TT the show would be **_**very**_** different.**

**AN: Richard and Kori used to be best friends before she moved away. Coming back several years later to join him in high school, she finds that time changes people. AU.**

**More added characters! **

**Manny is Mammoth.**

**Gizmo is… Gizmo.**

**Kyd is Kid Wykkyd.**

**Billy is Billy Numerous.**

**Seymour is See-more.**

**Chapter 3: Swearing on tofu.**

"What do you mean you cant come!"

Rachel rolled her eyes at the pouting red-head. "I told you, I have to baby sit the three little demons." She sighed. "Look, it's only practice, it's not like I'd ever miss an actual competition now is it?"

"Well, no…"

"Well then." She looked down at her watch and wrinkled her nose. "I have to go. See you all later."

"See you tomorrow, Rae!" Karen yelled, giggling as Rachel shuddered at the nickname as she walked off towards the school's exit with the crowd. Kori, Karen, Garth and Wally continued along the foot path to the outside running tracks where Wally was going to be training for a few hours. Apparently, this was a weekly thing; the whole group stayed after school several times a week to watch - and cheer - Wally run and Garth swim. Wally scowled as Rachel walked off and Garth slung an arm round his shoulders comfortingly.

"Chill, man. We have Kori to take her place to cheer you on!" Wally grinned lopsidedly as Garth continued. "Plus… it's Monday." Karen chuckled at the way Wally's face brightened. "You know what that means right?"

Kori watched, slightly confused as Wally's face fell back into its normal hyperly-happy state.

"Yup!" The red-head said. "The punk's will be sitting out by the running field!" Breaking free of Garth's hold, Wally turned to walk backwards before doing several perfect back flips.

Karen laughed. "Show off!" Grinning, she looked at Kori. "Every Monday, the punk's are hang out by the running field; Jinx included. But Vic trains in the gym, so he's not there."

Garth nodded, watching Wally continue his flips. "Jinx with no Victor makes Wally a happy boy… well, happier."

By the time the three teen's had caught up with Wally he was changed and ready to run. Bright red shorts and an equally bright yellow tank which had the school's 'Jump City High' symbol in red on it. On the back of the yellow shirt, FBA was printed in red with Wally's signature lightning bolt. Wally was placing his red wrist bands on when he caught sight of Jinx and her gang under a tree, right in front of his starting position. He smiled wickedly at the others.

"Do you think coach'll mind if I run shirtless?"

Kori giggled while Karen smirked. "You're his best runner, you could run naked and he wouldn't care!"

Wally mocked thinking. "Now that's an idea!" He moved his hands to grip the top of his shorts and pulled on them slightly.

"Don't you dare!" Karen shrieked, knowing from past experiences that Wally had no problem with making an idiot of him self in public.

Thankfully, he removed his hands, keeping his shorts up. "It's not like you aint seen my ass before, Kar."

Garth snorted. "That's only because you mooned the whole school on stage after picking up your trophy -"

"First place trophy!" Wally butted in proudly.

"- Besides, we don't want to scare Kori off us."

Pouting, Wally raised a red eyebrow. "Not fair. You get to train in practically nothing!"

"I swim!" Garth sputtered. "Anyway, not my fault I have a better body than you."

Wally wrinkled his nose as the girls giggled. "God damn you, you and you're extensive swimming and freaky fan girls!" He paused. "Lucky bastard. Why don't you just pass them onto someone who will actually appreciate them?"

Karen was holding her sides with laughter now, Kori was still smothering giggles but only because she didn't know the reality of Garth's situation. Said boy stared at his friend.

"You can have 'em." He said. "They're all completely nuts!" He shivered slightly at the thought.

Karen, wiping a tear from her eye and still out of breath, winked at Kori. "You'll see what he means tomorrow at his swimming practice."

Garth just groaned as they started towards the track. Once at Wally's starting place, the three sat down under the tree next to Jinx's. Wally grinned at them, throwing a look over his shoulder at Jinx, before starting his warm up stretches. His friends laid on the grass lazily while watching and chatting quietly. Kori looked over to the other tree, trying to match the faces with the names.

Jinx was there, obviously, in her pink haired glory. Next to her was Jade, dark hair catching the light as she talked to the blonde next to her. To Kori's surprise, it was Terra. According to Rachel, Terra was spending more and more time with the punks which Gar didn't like at all. Karen said that Rachel knew a little too much about what Gar likes and doesn't. Rachel also mentioned that Kitten also spent quite a lot of time with that gang, though her looks and style didn't fit in with that crowd, her manipulative ways and bad temper went over good with them.

Kitten wasn't there though, instead it was a bunch of boys; Xavier, a large but stupid boy called Manny, a small genius called Gizmo, an annoying boy named Billy and a boy with odd glasses called Seymour. The last of their group was an extremely pale boy wearing all black, Garth told her that he didn't speak and refused to tell anyone - student or teacher - his name and, instead, went by 'Kyd'.

"Yo!" Wally's voice snapped Kori out of her daze. "Someone time me!"

Karen rolled her eyes. "Wally wants to show off again, I see." She muttered as Garth fiddled with his watch.

"Ok…" Garth called. "Go!"

Wally was off in a flash. His feet moving as soon as Garth had finished speaking and kicking some sand up as they started. Karen let out a yell as he started, telling him to do three laps around the large track as usual. Kori couldn't help but be impressed.

"Wow, I've never seen anyone that fast before…"

Karen laughed. "Oh yeah, Wally's fast as lightning; hence why he signs everything - work, homework, anything he can write his name on - with a lightning bolt at the end." She shook her head. "The 'FBA' he has printed everywhere mean Fastest Boy Alive, don't tell him this - he can get very big headed - but that statement is completely true."

"Hey." Garth murmured, nodding over at Jinx. "Check it out."

Kori and Karen looked over to Jinx's gang, they're eyes immediately going to the punk girl. She was now turned from the conversation she was having with Terra and Jade, completely ignoring the other girls, and was looking over to the other side of the track. Following her gaze, the three saw that she was watching Wally; who was already over half way of the track. Karen let out a low whistle.

"Well, well. Lookie at what we got here." She muttered. "One hell of a predicament, is what we got."

The other two nodded and then Kori spotted the runner who was growing increasingly nearer. She squinted at him in the sun. "Hey, what's Wally doing?"

Garth and Karen squinted too. "He's… taking his shirt off?" Garth questioned as Karen made a choking sound.

"He's not." She groaned, despite the fact that it was becoming increasingly obvious he was doing just that. "Does he actually enjoy public humiliation or what?!"

"Here he comes." Kori said softly. "And those lot have noticed."

True, Wally was just a few feet away now and the group next to them were laughing and pointing as the runner slipped his shirt off to reveal a toned and slightly sweaty upper body. Kori didn't like the devious grin on the boy's face as he grew nearer and nearer to both groups of people. He was just three trees away from Jinx's… two… one…

The whole field erupted in laughter when Wally threw his shirt at Jinx, who stared mouth-open as it feel into her lap. Her cheek's went pink quickly as she realised that it wasn't just a daydream and that he had really done it. Wally turned round while running, not bothering to slow down, to wink at her before spinning back to face the right way and doubling his pace. Over on the other side of the track, Wally's PE coach rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Damn it, West! Stop flirting and run!"

"I am running!" Came the cheeky reply, followed by a howl of laughter.

The man groaned, hitting his forehead with the palm of his hand. "If that kid weren't so damn fast I'd have called his guardian and got him cut from the team a long time ago."

* * *

Five laps, four warm ups and a 5 minute break later, the four friends were heading back towards the changing rooms; Jinx's lot were long gone, much to Wally's displeasment. Jinx had also taken Wally's shirt, for reasons unknown. 

"Maybe she likes the smell of it." Wally said, nodded while the others groaned. "Maybe she wants to have it under her pillow while she sleeps."

"Maybe," Garth said, smirking. "She wants to burn it and any evidence that it ever touched her."

Karen laughed. "Maybe she's gonna do voodoo on it to make you die… or worse, slow."

"Oh ha-ha." Wally said sarcastically. "Very funny. Kori, you think she likes me, right?"

Kori paused. "Well, she _did_ take your shirt." She giggled as he did a flip in victory, still not worn out from his hard running. "But, you hardly gave her a choice in the matter."

He scowled. "She didn't have to take it home though…" He sighed, a serious look passing his face and making his friends alarmed. But then the moment was passed and he grinned at them lopsidedly. "Go on, get out of here. I'm gonna take a shower and head home."

Garth laid a hand on Wally's shoulder. "You sure?" The red-head nodded and the other boy shrugged. "Fine. We'll see you tomorrow." They all said they're goodbyes and left him to clean himself up. Outside the school grounds at last, Karen asked which way Kori would be walking.

"Err… Ah! Down this way." She pointed to the right, recognizing the street that would just be a few from hers.

Karen nodded. "Well, we'll see you tomorrow then. Me and Garth live on the same street, that way." She nodded to the left.

Kori smiled. "Ok, see you!"

"Bye!" They both yelled, starting down the opposite way as Kori went down the right. Her phone rang and she answered it with a silent groan, knowing the number of her sister.

"Hi Korma."

"Hey, little sister. Good first day?"

Kori narrowed her eyes, a little suspicious that her sister would call to check up on her. "Yes, thank you… what about yours?"

Her sister laughed. "Oh, great. I'm round somebody's house at the moment and staying for dinner, ok? Dad wont be back till twelve tonight, as always, so I'll be home before him at about ten. Get yourself something to eat, yeah?"

Kori nodded, turning her head as she heard her voice being called. Her mouth fell open as a motorbike pulled along side her, the rider pulled his helmet of to reveal Richard. "Err.. Yeah, sure… whatever. Look, I got to go." Kori hanged up before her sister could reply to stare at Dick.

"Wow. Nice… nice!" He laughed and she found herself smiling warmly at the sound.

"Thanks." He grinned, his teeth catching the light and making Kori loose her breath a little. "I'm meeting some of the guys down at a pizza place, you in? I could introduce you to some more people?"

Kori thought about it, but not for long. All that was waiting for her was an empty house and a dinner alone. She bit her lip and nodded. "I'm in!"

"Great!" He turned to grab something and then handed her a helmet. "Get on and we'll go."

She paused, nervous. She had never hidden anything like this before and was a little worried. "Y- you know how to ride this thing properly, right?"

He gave her a comforting smile. "Yes, I swear." He looked her straight in the eyes. "I would never put you in danger, trust me?" He held his hand out and Kori didn't hesitate to take it.

"I trust you."

Kori let out a small squeak as they sped down the street and she felt, rather than heard, Richard laugh. She was sitting behind him, straddling the bike and pressed as close to him as humanly possible; her arms around his waist tightly.

"Slow down!" She yelled into the wind. He didn't though, in fact, she was sure he went a little faster.

"Calm down, Kor!" He laughed. "We're here now!" And true to his word, they slowed down to a stop, outside a small restaurant. He climbed off, removing his black helmet, while she took off hers on the bike, before outstretching his hand to help her off. Her legs were weak and when she tried to use them, they refused to support her weight. Falling forwards, she found herself pressed into Richard, him holding her tightly till she found her feet again. She looked up, her green eyes meeting his blue ones. He gave a small chuckle, sounding slightly forced and reached up to brush some red hair out of her face.

"You've grown." He murmured, his voice sounding deeper than usual. She cocked her head and he carried on. "You used to be smaller than me…" Looking down, she saw that her knees were bent and yet she was only slightly smaller than him - her nose directly under his. When she would straighten, she would indeed be slightly taller than him. Smiling, she looked up again and found her nose brushing up against his.

They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity; eyes wide and connected, noses touching and lips so close that they're breath intermingled. It all came crashing down far too soon, as a voice - sounding so distant that they could have ignored it easily - called to them.

"Yo, Dick! You comin'? I wanna meet this girl already!"

Richard pulled away and Kori stumbled, quickly finding her feet and turning away to hide her blush as Dick answered Victor, who was sticking his head out the door.

"Yeah, yeah. We're coming…" He turned and cleared his throat. When Kori looked at him, he motioned to the door and opened it to let her through.

She thanked him, mumbling it slightly and went in, letting him guide her from behind to a large booth-table. Victor was on the end with Gar on his left, next to the blonde boy was Terra and then Roy, Jade and finally Kitten. They're words of hello mixed as Dick slide in next to Kitten - a slight grimace on his face - and Kori slipped in on the end next to him. The two tables on either side of them were full of various people - mostly jocks and cheerleaders - who knew the group of friends but not enough to sit with them. Kori felt oddly important, being allowed to sit with such a looked up to gang.

Kitten, playing the good girlfriend, kissed Richard on the cheek and then turned to Kori. "Its Kori, right?" She continued as Kori nodded. "I'm Kitten, Dick's girlfriend, it's so nice to meet you at last!"

Kori raised an eyebrow, promptly followed by the rest of the table - excluding Roy who was staring blankly out the window and chewing on a nail. "Really?" She asked, curious.

Kitten nodded, smiling sweetly. "Yuh-huh, Dick's told me so much about you." She laid a hand on Richards purposely. "I'm sure we'll be great friends."

Kori's other eyebrow shot up to join the first. She was sure that everyone else at the table - Dick included - could see through Kitten's fake voice and smile. Slightly nervous, Kori forced a smile. "Err… I'd like that…"

'_I'd like to get the hell away from this girl is what I'd like…' _She couldn't help but think. Dick broke the odd silence that had fallen over the table.

"Right, pizza! My treat." They all yelled their thanks, Kitten showing hers openly as she cooed into his ear, making him twitch in a sub-conscious effort to get away.

"Cool, whaddaya'll want - Dick pass us your money, man, I'll go get it for ya - And no Gar, we aint just having tofu pizzas." Richard pulled out his wallet and counted out several bills; Kori couldn't help but be amazed at the amount. Passing them over the table as Gar and Victor bickered over meat, Dick smiled shyly at her.

"Bruce is kinda well off…"

A snort came from Terra, breaking the fighting boys out of their argument.

Gar chuckled at Dick, wagging a finger with green nail polish on it. "Kinda? Dude, he's like, a millionaire!" Forest green eyes turned to Kori. "I swear on tofu that Bruce Wayne is the most brilliant business-man ever, and possibly the richest guy in America!"

Terra giggled at her boyfriend. "Wow, Gar. Exaggerate much?"

"Hey Roy?" Victor's loud voice cut off the laughter but Roy remained oblivious, green eyes unblinking as he stared out the window, chewing on his bottom lip. "Roy?!"

"Harper!" Jade shoved him lightly, forcing him out of his daze. He looked at them, surprised to see almost all three tables watching him with careful eyes.

"You ok, man?" Dick said, leaning forwards.

Roy swallowed. "Err, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Just… drifted off a bit there." The table chuckled but Dick stayed straight faced, unsatisfied with the answer. He sent his friend a look that said 'we'll talk later'. Roy pretended not to notice, instead, he looked at Victor.

"Sorry, Vic. What did you want?"

"What type of pizza you want?" Vic repeated and raised an eyebrow when Roy shook his head.

"Na, dude. Not hungry."

Dick narrowed his eyes. Kori was more surprised at how Jade was ignoring the conversation entirely. From what she had learned, Jade was possessive; so why didn't she care that something was wrong with her boyfriend? Unless she knew and didn't want to talk about it…?

Kori was cut off of her thoughts by Victor taking his seat, saying that the pizza's will be done soon. It was then that Kori noticed something.

"Hey, Vic?" The boy looked at her. "Where's Jinx? I saw her down the track earlier but she left…" She looked over at Jade. "I'd have thought she'd have come with you, Jade, when you came here…" Her tone was questioning.

Jade shrugged, talking for the first time in front of Kori. "She said she had 'business' to attend to." Jade's eyes bore into Kori's and the red head got the hint that she was to say nothing about Wally's shirt. At least, not in front of Victor... Not that Kori would have anyway.

Victor nodded. "Jinx'll catch up with us later. She's probably gone out with her lot for a while."

* * *

Wally hummed as he dressed, pulling on his jeans before yanking his shirt over still wet hair. Since no-one else trained today, he had the whole of the boy's shower and changing room to himself and loved every second of it. True, he loved running more, but being able to relax and wash after it in such a big place without being disturbed or annoyed was something he would never miss out on. 

Which is why he was completely surprised and a little annoyed when he heard the large door to the changing room open. Groaning at the loss of his peace, he shook his head fast, sending water droplets everywhere. Stopping immediately when a soft voice spoke up.

"Watch it, you gonna make me all wet."

Stunned, Wally turned slowly, jaw hitting the ground when he saw that he wasn't imagining the voice. "J-Jinx?!"

She smirked, walking closer to him, hips swaying and one hand behind her back. "Mmm-hmm. I thought I'd come to return your shirt that you so graciously gave to me." When she pulled her hidden hand forwards he saw his yellow shirt dangling from a long pale finger.

He chuckled, running a hand through his hair to rub the back of his neck. "Heh, yeah. Sorry 'bout that…"

"I didn't mind." She shrugged, moving closer still till she had him backed against the wall. She raised an eyebrow at his wide eyes and laboured breathing. "What are you nervous for?"

He twitched slightly. "Me? I'm not!" He paused and then looked at her deeply. "I… didn't think you even knew I existed…"

Her smirk faded and was replaced by a soft smile, a true smile that wasn't forced for the first time in her life for ages. "Why do you care if I notice you or not?" She tilted her head, moved closer to him and drew lazy patterns on his chest. "We're completely different people from completely different clicks…"

He looked away. "You and Victor are from different clicks."

She sighed. "Victor… acted different to impress me. Acted like an individual, someone outside of the jocks… he turned out to be a complete other person."

He nodded slowly. Truthfully, Victor was his own person, he was someone outside of the jocks and they both knew it. Jinx sighed again, sounding sad.

"Vic was kind of in with my group before we dated, he liked my style." She looked up to meet his eyes. "But you… you don't know my style, nor my friends style. Why are you so interested in me?"

He grabbed her hand, blue eyes serious. "There's something about you that's different… I think you could do better."

Jinx stared at him, completely stunned at the honesty of the answer. Leaning up slowly, she tilted her head to press her lips against his. The kiss was sweet, different from what they were both used to, and made Jinx tremble. Feeling this, Wally released her hand to weave his arms round her thin waist, pulling her even closer to him till they're bodies were pressed to one another as the kiss deepened. Jinx slipped her arms round his neck, her fingers toying with his hair, and sighed once more, this time happily.

**AN: Seven… freakin'… pages. :dies: I so need sleep!**

**Ah… Flinx action. Whoo! Don't feel bad for Vic, he'll get over it. Till he does, I get to create conflict between Wally and him. :evil laugh: I'll do Garth's swimming practice next, so you can see his crazy fan-girls. I figure that since all the girls - 'cept Bee - love him in TT, so they should all love him in this. But I'm gonna make him gay so it don't really matter lol. **

**And also, you will all, eventually, find out what's up with Roy - hesmyfavorateTTcharactersoomgyay! - and I have yet to decide something… on one hand it'll be good drama but I might have to bunk it up to the next rating… Or I could just by-pass it and make it a thing of the past. You'll have no idea what I'm talking about so I'll shut up. Not my fault, I'm so tired! Right, posting now and then bed. G'night!**

**R n R if you please.**

**X**

**P.s Wally's ending line was totally stolen from the show. No duh.**

**P.p.s Thanks to: RoseXxxXThorn, Eviltwin222 and cartoonstar (ha, your review made me laugh for some reason :P) Thanks so much for reviewing! I'm so glad you enjoy my story!**


	4. Babysitting

**Disclaimer: If I owned TT the show would be **_**very**_** different.**

**AN: Richard and Kori used to be best friends before she moved away. Coming back several years later to join him in high school, she finds that time changes people. AU.**

**More added characters! **

**Mas Y Menos are Mas and Menos lol. **

**Chapter 4: Baby sitting.**

Garth cursed loudly as he ran down his stairs in nothing but a towel, dripping wet. The phone was ringing and he had been forced to jump out of his warm shower to go and get it. He turned sharply and slipped on the wooden floor; sliding to the other side of the room with a crash. Now limping, he hurried to snatch up the phone.

"What!?"

"Jeeze, Garth. Calm down." The boy could practically hear the girl on the other end smirking.

"Karen? What the hell?"

"Well, somebody's not in a good mood." She teased.

"I was in the freaking shower!" He hissed, extremely annoyed. "And I just slipped and banged my leg against the fish tank."

"…" There was a pause. "…Are you _naked_?"

Garth pulled his hand pack to stare at the phone. Bringing it back to his ear, he snarled at his friend. "I'm wearing a towel, you dirty minded pervert. Now, what do you want? I'm getting cold."

"My, that creates one hell of a mental image." She stopped laughing when he made a growling sound. "Ok, ok. Look, my Mum got me roped into this baby-sitting thing tonight. The kids are at my house and they're freaking insane! They seem to be permanently hyper, only speak Spanish and could give Wally a run for his money with how fast they move." Garth couldn't help but be amused at the tone in her voice.

"So?" He asked, leaning against the table and his hand immediately slipping. Scowling, he straightened. "What do I have to do with any of this?"

She sighed. "I still have a few hours to go and I wont make it out alive without some help. Think you can come over?"

Garth wanted nothing more than to say no, put the phone down and go back to his shower. But his friend was practically begging now, and he couldn't say no.

"Fine. I'll be ten minutes."

Karen squealed. "Oh, thanks Garth! I owe you big time -" They both winced as a crash was heard and then Spanish yelling. They both groaned.

"Why me?" Garth asked.

"Rachel's busy and Wally is probably more hyper than these two." She paused as two voices yelled her name. "Gotta go, see you soon!"

Garth sighed as he put the phone down. How did he get wrapped up in these things?

Ten minutes later, exactly on time, Karen's doorbell went and she opened it to reveal Garth, mostly dry, excluding his still damp hair. She smirked at him.

"Aw, no towel?"

Dark eyes narrowed dangerously. "God, your worse than the fan-girls…"

She smacked him on the arm playfully. "C'mon in. I'll get the twins."

He sighed as he shut the door behind him. He removed his coat and hanged it up, turning back round he saw Karen coming out of the kitchen, holding a small hand in each of her own.

"Ok. Garth this is Mas -" She pointed to the one on her left, the small ginger-headed boy grinned and waved. "- And Menos." Menos mimicked his brother. Garth quickly made a note of their differences - which wasn't many - they both wore identical clothes and had the same number of freckles. But Menos had a missing tooth. Also, Mas wore a plus sign on his cheek, while Menos wore a minus.

"Hola!" They chorused loudly before running off.

Garth raised an eyebrow. "Your right; they are fast. But I doubt they could challenge Wally. Be serious Karen."

She growled. "Oh yeah? They're nuts, trust me!"

"I think your over-reacting."

The girl snorted. "Lets see you calm them down."

He grinned at the challenge. "Fine." The twins ran passed him and he grabbed them by the backs of their shirts. Picking the squirming boys up, he grinned at Karen. "You got any Disney movies?"

* * *

Rachel snarled, throwing the phone down. She had tried calling all her friends but had no success. Karen's phone was being answered by a young Spanish boy, Garth's had been left of the hook - he did this when he was annoyed or frustrated… so it happened a lot - and Wally... Well, he had picked up and was in the middle of saying hello when he was stopped abruptly. There was silence and then a moan. Rachel had hanged up as fast as possible with a vow never to call him again. 

She had even called Kori's house but hers went straight to the answering machine. Sitting up suddenly, she pulled out a slip of paper with Kori's mobile number. She had completely forgotten about it! A small smile came on to her face she punched the numbers in and it rang.

She looked down at the three kids she was watching, they were quiet, for once, because they were eating dinner. Rachel knew that they would soon be up and about in no time and she would have a hard time watching all three. She adored the kids, really, and they loved her. But three of them was a handful. Finally, the mobile was answered. However, it wasn't Kori.

"Hello, you've reached Kori Anders' phone." There was giggling in the background. "Kori cant come to the phone right now as she's flirting with Dick by the counter. May I take a message?"

Rachel blinked, recognising the voice. "Garfield?"

"… Rae?"

She scowled. "Rachel." She said forcibly. "Why the hell are you answering Kori's phone?"

"Ah, like I said, she's flirting with Dick. … How do you have her number?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "She gave it to me, duh."

"Dude!" Rachel winced. "I didn't know you knew Kori." The dark girl waited for him to stop laughing. "So," He said conversationally. "What's up?"

"Just pass me to Kori."

He made a sound, as though thinking about it. "She seems a little busy right now… What do ya want? I'll tell her."

"Not that it's any of your business, Garfield, but I was wondering if Kori would mind helping me baby sit." She snapped down the phone and was about to hang up when he spoke.

"Hey, no worries! I'm great with kids. Tell me the address and I'll come over instead. Kitten's just left -" There was cheer from someone, Rachel had her money on Roy. "- So Dicky's free to make the moves on Kor."

"And I wouldn't want to interrupt their time together." Rachel said sarcastically.

"Exactly!" She could just see the toothy grin on his face, slightly-too-sharp fangs poking out. "So, c'mon. Gimme the address."

"… I don't know…" She bit her lip. She _did_ need help and he said he was good with kids. She sighed. "Fine."

He made a whooping sound and yelled for a pen. "Ouch! Geese, Roy, your aim is unnaturally good!" He scuffled around for a napkin and then write own the address she recited to him. "Ok, cool. That's not to far. See you soon!"

Hanging up, Rachel groaned. What had she just gotten herself into?

Rachel was surprised at how fast Gar got to her house. She had only finished speaking to him five minutes before he was knocking at her door. He grinned widely, sharp teeth flashing.

"Hey."

"…Hi." They paused and then Rachel moved out of the way to let him in. The three kids, intrigued by the new boy, came over.

Gar squatted down in front of them, his head reaching the face of the eldest kid. "Hey there." He said, his voice purring slightly. "What's your name, sweet-heart?"

The eldest was a girl, blonde hair pulled back into pony-tails and her hand upwards as though holding something. "I'm Melvin." She said, before motioning upwards. "And this is Bobby."

Rachel stifled a groan. 'Bobby' was Melvin's imaginary friend. Gar seemed to think for a second, before straightening and facing 'Bobby'.

"Well, hi Bobby!" Rachel stared. "I'm Gar, nice to meet ya!" He looked down at Melvin, who was smiling at staring at Gar in awe. "Can I shake his hand?" Melvin nodded silently and watched as Gar held his hand out, pretended to tighten it as though gripping someone else's and then shook it a few times. Pulling his hand back, he winked at Rachel.

Melvin giggled. "Bobby says he likes you."

"Well, I like him to." Fangs flashed again as he bent down to kneel in front of the two younger boys. "And you two are…?"

The elder of the two, a red head who was sucking his thumb and holding a blanket, spoke around his mouthful. "I'm 'immy. An' 'his is 'eether." He pointed at the smallest one, just a baby, with a tuft of blonde hair and wide innocent eyes.

Gar blinked. "Timmy and Teether?" The boys nodded. "Ok." He stood again, stretching upwards in a motion that reminded Rachel of a cat. "Well, guys. I'm Gar." He slung an arm over Rachel's shoulders. "Rae's friend."

Rachel raised an eyebrow at the intimate action. Melvin giggled again. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Victor slammed his large hand down onto the table, mobile in it. The remaining people there jumped at the sudden noise. Roy arched an eyebrow from where he was slumped on the table, head resting on his crossed arms. 

"Err… dude? What the hell?"

Vic sighed. "Sorry. Jinx still aint answering her phone."

Terra shrugged, not happy since her boyfriend left her to go see another girl. And Rachel, the girl she hated, no less! "Maybe she has it on silent?"

"Maybe…" The boy sighed again. "But she was meant to meet us here over an hour ago! What if something's wrong?"

Jade snorted. "Please. If someone's tried something with Jinx then I'm more worried about the guy. Jinx can hold her own, Vic."

"I know… I know…"

"You know what?" Victor looked up to see Dick and Kori coming back over to the table and shook his head at his friend's question.

"Nothing man, don't worry."

As they sat, Kori looked around. "Where's Gar gone?"

Terra made a noise like a cat. Jade smirked, running a hand through Roy's hair who, eyes closed, scooted a little away to just out of her reach. She frowned, eyes narrowed at her boyfriend before turning back to Kori.

"Rachel called your phone and Gar, being the weirdo that he is, picked up. Apparently she needed some help baby-sitting an he offered to go seeing as you were… unattainable."

Dick raised his eyebrows. "So wait, Gar's gone over to Rachel's - a girl he barely knows - to help her out?" Vic and Jade nodded and Dick let out a whistle before grinning at Terra. "Jeeze, this must be driving you nuts. We all know how you feel about Rachel."

Terra snarled and picked up a napkin to tear it into small pieces. Kori blinked.

"Err… What is wrong with Rachel, exactly?"

Dick's blue eyes went wide, realising that Rachel was her friend. "Ah… nothing! She and Terra just don't get on." He shrugged with a nervous chuckle. "Some people just don't click, ya know?"

"…Like you and that Xavier guy." It wasn't a question.

Dick ran a hand through his hair in a nervous gesture. "Well… yeah. But the girls aint so obvious about it." He coughed and quickly changed the subject back due to the glare Terra was giving him. "Besides, Rachel is a little… different for our taste." The blonde girl smiled her thanks while Kori narrowed her eyes.

"Different?" Dick swallowed hard.

"Err… not in a bad way…"

"Then in what way?" Kori's green eyes flashed in the light.

Vic cleared his throat. "He's only saying that Rachel doesn't fit in with us. She's a little too…" He paused and the others jumped in, excluding Roy as he seemed to be asleep.

"Freaky?" Jade said.

"Bitchy, more like." Terra muttered, scowling.

Dick spoke softly. "Dark?"

Victor nodded. "Dark."

Kori stood up. "Well, Gar doesn't seem to think so and I agree with him." She snatched up her back, ignore the pleading look that Dick was giving her. "I think I should go. Bye."

"Kori! Kori, come back! Kor!" Dick yelled after her as she stalked through to the door. It opened and closed quickly, shutting of his pleas. Vic shook his head.

"Give her some time to cool down, dude."

Dick pulled a face and slumped down in his chair, arms folded.

Terra poked him in the side, friendlily. "I'm sorry, Dick."

His anger faded away as she pulled out the big blue eyes. He sighed and sat up, slipping an arm round her shoulders. "Don't worry 'bout it Ter. Kori'll get over it."

Terra hugged him back, arm's round his waist, glad he wasn't mad. Outside, somebody saw this exchange. Kori pulled a sad face as she watched. Dick had gotten over her leaving awfully quickly…

"Hey cutie."

Kori twisted round with a gasp, coming face to face with a boy. He had on a black jumper, hood up, and looked oddly familiar… Recognition hit her. Xavier.

He looked passed her to see Terra cuddling up with Dick and let out a low whistle. "Whoa, he moves on fast eh?"

Kori muttered something about needing to get home and went to go passed him when he stepped in front of her.

"Lemme give you a ride then."

He pointed over to a bike, similar to Dicks. Kori gave a small smile.

"Thanks, but no."

"So you know the way home from here then?" Kori stopped and groaned. Dick had taken her the opposite way from her house and she had no idea where she was. She turned to look at Xavier who grinned and held out a black helmet. Looking passed him and through the window, she saw Dick kiss Terra on the top of her head. Anger flew through her and she impulsively reached out to take the helmet.

* * *

_They were in a class room. Why they were in school at all, he had no idea but he recognised the room to be one of the study rooms in the library. They were on opposite sides, though due to the smallness of the room they were still quiet close, with the table to the right and the heavy windowless door on the left. There were no window's, the lights above them being the only source of light. _

_Roy glared. Garth glared back. Green eyes met black through narrowed lids and the swimmers surprisingly thick black eye lashes. Both looked away, turning their death-stares to different corners of the room. Roy shifted his weight and lent back to lean on the wall, sighing loudly and closing his eyes. _

_The carpet in the room was thick and soft, Roy didn't even hear Garth move towards him until he felt the boys breath on his face. Green eyes snapped open to stare at the other boy. Garth had a hand pressed to the wall on either side of Roy's face, trapping the red-head. _

"_We need to do something about this, Harper." Garth growled out, the intensity of his voice making Roy shiver involuntarily. "We wont get anything done if we cant even look at each other without wishing the other would keel over and die."_

_Roy tilted his head. What the hell was Garth talking about? Get what done? Roy couldn't think. His breathing was laboured and his chest heaving as he desperately tried to get air to his head so he could understand what the hell the other boy was talking about. It wasn't fair. Garth was breathing more easily, through his mouth though, like Roy. _

_Something passed between them, making both their eyes go wide and their breath's hitch, Garth's finally becoming as deep and frantic as Roy's. Removing a hand from the wall, Garth moved it slowly and shakily towards Roy's face. Cool, pale fingertips touched his face, caressing his cheek bone before sliding down to curl around his neck. Roy's own hands moved as well, rising to slip around the boys waist and pull him closer. _

_Their breath intermingled before they drifted closer, before their lips touched in a soft kiss. Roy couldn't breath at all now. All he could think of was the boy in front of him and the way their lips were joint together, fitting perfectly. Garth sighed and Roy wanted to as well, but all that came out was a muffled whimper. The kiss was soft, light and so full of meaning and passion that they were both trembling when they parted. _

_Garth's other hand came up to run through orange hair, threading through the well placed strands carefully, as not to move them from their spots. Their eyes met again as Roy lent in to rest his forehead against the other boy. Garth's lips slowly parted again._

"_Roy…"_

"Roy!"

The boy sat up straight, eyes wide and breaths deep. He shook his head, looking around at where he was. He was still in the restaurant, with loads of people still around; most of them watching him. Looking around the table he was on, he saw that it was missing one. Vic was still there and Dick was, his arm around Terra, all three were looking at him worriedly. Someone laid a hand on his cheek and he sucked in a defensive breath.

Abruptly, Jade pulled away, not used to Roy being so tense. She bit her lip and placed her hand back again, this time on his arm. He jumped and turned to look at her. She gave a comforting smile.

"You ok? You fell asleep, Roy."

"I fell… I…but then… Wait, what?"

Vic chuckled at his confusion. "Man, you need to get some sleep. You fell asleep in public."

"It's all those late night archery training sessions, I'm sure." Dick smirked at his friend. "Seriously, if you wanna learn how to shoot in the dark just wear a blindfold!"

Roy blinked, then rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "…It… I -" He took a breath. "I was asleep?"

Jade nodded, looking worried. "You whimpered, we figured you were having a bad dream so we woke you up."

Roy's cheek's went red. "Err… yeah. Yeah, bad dream. Woke me up. Thanks."

Terra raised an eyebrow at his broken sentences. "God, Roy. Maybe Dick's right, maybe you should train in the day instead."

Roy laughed nervously, still looking startled and still blushing slightly. "Heh, yeah. Yeah, I should just turn the lights off in the gym next time huh?" He stretched and closed his eyes, snapping them back open when his dream flicked in front of him. "Ah… We're missing some one…"

"Kori." Dick said, frowning slightly. "She… err… we…" The black haired boy sighed. "She had to go."

Roy nodded, not really listening and checked the time. "Damn, I need to go pick up my brothers." He stood and then paused when he saw he was in the middle of the round booth. Groaning, he ducked down, crawling underneath and expertly avoiding Dick's legs when they 'accidentally' kicked out. Standing, he said goodbye, waved and paused as if to say something. Still a little out of it, he shrugged and mumbled good bye again before walking out.

* * *

Karen jumped up of the couch, moving to the door and opening it while checking the time. The twins parents were a little late, but that was ok because she, Garth and the kids had ended up watching a movie, complete with popcorn. He'd kill her if she said it, but he was really good with the brats; laughing at their jokes despite the fact that he knew no Spanish, talking to them with a kind teasing voice and even allowing them to cuddle up with him during the movie. She decided not to mention the picture she had gotten of the three smiling and hugging. 

"Hey, sorry I'm running late but -"

Karen blinked. "Roy?"

"Karen?"

Garth chose to enter from the kitchen then. "Kar are the twins -" He stared at the two in the door way. "Harper?"

"Garth!?" Roy's voice squeaked and he went paper white to bright red in record time. Mas and Menos, wondering what was going on, followed Garth from the kitchen. They saw Roy, ignoring the scene before them, and tackle glomped him.

"Speedy!" They yelled, crashing into his stomach and wrapping their arms around his waist. He coughed as the wind was knocked out of him and blushed as he looked at the two teens.

"'Speedy'?" Karen repeated, smirking.

"Ah… It's a nickname…" He muttered before looking down at the two. "¡Usted tuvo mejor de comportado! Encontrar a babys sitters para usted consiguen duramente." Karen's and Garth's mouths fell open as he spoke in broken Spanish and he quickly changed to English. "You two got all you stuff ready?"

"Si…" Mas and Menos chirped. He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, right. Go get your bags." The two small boys pouted, walking up the stairs and muttering. Speedy gave the two baby-sitters a lopsided grin, avoiding Garth's gaze at all costs. "…I, err… hope they weren't too rough on you."

Karen shook her head, snapping her self out of her daze. "No, no… You know Spanish?"

He flushed. "I live with those two. I had to learn some…"

Garth blinked. "Those two are your brothers? How…?"

Hesitation passed over Roy's face, then he shrugged. "I'll have you know, fish stick, that we are all adopted."

Garth looked down, embarrassed. "Oh… Sorry."

Roy shrugged again, blushing deeply at just being in the same room as the other boy. Karen seemed to sense this as she looked between the boys before moving to call up to the twins. Seconds later they were all gathered in the hallway. Roy pulled out his wallet and counted out a few bills.

"Here, this should cover it eh?"

Karen flipped it through. "Yeah, it's a little extra though…"

"Keep it. God knows that if you can put up with these two you deserve it." Karen blinked, before thanking him.

He nodded. "Whatever…" There was a pause, broken by Mas and Menos whining to go home. "Ah… yeah, yeah. We're going." He turned to Karen, ignoring Garth as much as possible. "Thanks… Err… guess I'll see you tomorrow."

He turned and left, his eyes drifting on Garth for a little longer than necessary, making the raven-haired boy swallow hard. Karen shut the door and shot a confused look at Garth.

"Well," She said. "That was weird."

* * *

Rachel shut the door, sighing and leaning against it. The kids had just been picked up, a little late as usual, and she found herself not nearly as tired as she usually was. Gar hadn't been lying when he said he was good with kids. He hadn't yelled or sworn when Teether bit him, nor argued with Timmy when he had a tantrum, he hadn't even gotten annoyed when Melvin asked him again and again to play 'patter-cake' with 'Bobby'. 

Said boy came out of the kitchen, having called his Dad and asking him to pick him up. He grinned wolfishly at her and she couldn't help but give a small smile back. Gar flopped down on her couch, closing his eyes contently. Rachel moved hesitantly towards him, sitting down slowly on the pillow next to him and tilted her head.

He opened one green eye. "Hmm?"

Rachel paused. "Thank you." She said, avoiding his gaze determinedly. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him smile. Not the normal large animal-like grin he usually had, but a soft and completely genuine one. He poked her in the arm lightly.

"Anytime Rae."  
"Rachel." She said, mostly out of habit, turning to face him.

He still had that smile and nodded. "Rachel." There was a not-so-uncomfortable silence before he spoke again. "This was cool."

She gave a short laugh. "Yeah, never thought baby-sitting the brats would be kinda fun."

He laughed, turning his head to face forward again. "So… When are you next looking after them?"

She blinked. "Err… I look after them every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday after school and then whenever their parents ask me to, like today wasn't a scheduled day but their Mum asked me to do an extra one."

"Oh, right. That's cool…"

Rachel cleared her throat. "You know… Those three really seemed to like you. And, as much as I hate to say it, this was…well, it wasn't boring. You could, if you wanted to, come and help out sometime again."

His eyes brightened. "Really!?" She nodded and he made an almost squealing sound. "Cool! Err.. I mean, yeah. I'd like that."

She smirked, feeling that she had been a little to nice today. "Good, but if your going to be around me, please do something with your hair."

He pouted. "Aw, your just saying that 'cos you've been soft this whole evening."

She raised an eyebrow and then turned as a car beeped its horn loudly outside. "That'll be your Dad?"

He nodded and went to the door, opening it, he paused. "This was actually really fun." He smiled at her. "You're quite cool, ya know, when your not being all moody or weird." He chuckled not noticing how her cheeks went pink at the half compliment. "See ya, Rae."

She didn't bother to correct him.

**AN: So very, very, v-e-r-y long :dies: Hope you all enjoyed it, even though hardly anything happened. A few things.**

**- I know I said we'd see Garth swim and his fan girls but the chapter went on for too long so that can happen next.**

**- We didn't see Wally or Jinx is this chapter :cries: But they were… busy. coughTotallyGettingItOncoughcough.**

**- Yes, I made Mas and Menos Roy's brothers. I was going to have them as Wally's, because of the whole running thing, but I thought it'd be better if they were related to some one from Titans East. Also Roy, Mas and Menos all have ginger hair. **

**- This is NOT - I repeat NOT! - a Dick/Terra chapter. They are only friends. She didn't want him to be mad, he wanted to show that he wasn't. The whole kiss-on-the-head thing was purely friendly. Not romantically. Though, the image of those to so close and comforting each other is so cute.**

**- Almost naked Garth and a dirty dream from Roy. Not a bad chapter. Though, it's the worst so far in my opinion. **

**Translations: **

Hola! **- Hello!**

¡Usted tuvo mejor de comportado! Encontrar a babys sitters para usted consiguen duramente. - **You two had better of behaved! Finding baby-sitters for you is getting hard.**

**Such a long chapter! My hands hurt, laters!**

**R n R, if you please.**

**x**


	5. Damn seductive Roy!

**Disclaimer: If I owned TT the show would be **_**very**_** different.**

**AN: Richard and Kori used to be best friends before she moved away. Coming back several years later to join him in high school, she finds that time changes people. AU.**

**Chapter 5: Damn seductive Roy!**

When Rachel met up with Wally the next morning, as they always did when walking to school, he was whistling a happy tune was more hyper than the time he had had coffee. Rachel couldn't help but think it was extremely unnatural to be so happy this early in the morning; especially when going to school. She eyed him warily.

"What are you so happy about?"

He grinned, bouncing on the toes of his feet. "Why wouldn't I be? The weather's great, I'm not failing any classes, I have wonderful friends…" His grin turned sly and he lent in to whisper in to her ear. "And Jinx likes me!"

Rachel blinked as he grabbed her waist and started to dance around her. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" He stopped and looked at her. "What makes you think that? 'Cos she stole the shirt you threw at her?"

He shook his head, giggling insanely. "She came to meet me in the locker room after you guys left." His eyes glassed over a little while Rachel put two and two together.

"Oh… So when I called you…" She made a look of disgust. "Ew! Tell me you guys weren't doing it when I tried calling you!"

Wally snapped out of his daze. "What, no! We didn't 'do it' at all!" He chuckled. "So that was you who called and hanged up? That was rude."

Rachel narrowed her eyes and took a step towards the boy, poking him in the chest every few words. "Of course I hanged up!" She dropped her voice to a hiss. "You fucking _moaned_!" Backing away, she shivered. "I swear I'm traumatised now."

Wally blushed. "Not my fault." He mumbled, kicking a stone while continuing up the pathway. "She was doing vile things to my neck." His face went dreamy as hers went green. "Gorgeously vile things…"

"I so don't need to know these things, Wally." She pointed out but he just ignored her, grinning.

"Her lips tasted like bitter sweet strawberries." He subconsciously liked his lips. "And her hair smelled like rose petals." His eyes closed dreamily and Rachel wrinkled her nose, trying desperately not to listen. "Her skin was like silk-"

"Ok!" Rachel slapped him upside the head, making his eyes snap open. "Way too much information! I really don't want to hear about your sex-capades."

Wally blinked and then broke into loud laughter, making people on the other side of the street look at the pair. Within a few minutes he was kneeling on the street, clutching his stomach. Rachel waited, tapping her foot, for him to calm down.

"You…" He said breathlessly, standing up. "Should not be allowed to say that. It's freaking hilarious!" She sighed, turning and walking on without him. He took a few deep breaths before jogging to catch up with her. "Besides, we didn't have sex."

"Then stop looking as though you just got laid!"

He pouted. "Fine. I wont tell you about it, I'm sure my other friends will listen to me ramble."

Rachel snorted. "Oh yeah?" She smirked. "Who?"

He paused. "Well, none of Vic's gang…" Realisation hit him and he groaned, shoulders sagging. "Man, that's so not fair! No-one will wont to listen!" He sighed heavily. "Well this is what I get isn't it? For hanging out with three girls and a gay guy."

Rachel snickered. "Could be worse. Remember that rumour that went round when people found out Garth was gay? They all thought you were his boyfriend!"

Wally smacked himself on the forehead. "And this is why I hang out with Dick and his lot."

Rachel just snorted and waved an arm over her head briefly, signalling to Karen. Said girl walked over, a slightly curious look on her face.

"Hey, you guys haven't seen -"

"Whoa!" The girls looked at Wally, his face looking shocked and amazed. They followed his gaze, and their faces quickly fell into looks similar to his. Xavier Red was just parking his bike into the school's lot, he stood and removed his helmet - pulling his hood up as quickly as possible after - before reaching a hand out to help his passenger off. The spare helmet came off to reveal long red hair, bright green eyes and a tanned face.

Kori smiled at Xavier and spoke to him softly. He replied, grinning - as far as they could tell. They spoke for a few moments before walking separate ways. Kori heading towards Karen, Rachel and Wally and Xavier walking the opposite way, to the benches at the back of the school where Jinx and her gang hanged out most likely. Xavier walked passed Gar and Dick, smirking at the black haired boy under his hood. Gar had to grab the back of his shirt to stop him from jumping and attacking the other boy.

Kori, not seeing this, grinned at her friends as she approached them. Their eyes snapped from the seething Dick to the girl in front of them.

"Good morning." She chirped. The three blinked at the same time, Wally finding his voice first.

"…The hell?"

Kori tilted her head. "Err… excuse me?"

Karen, speechless for once, just gaped while Rachel cleared her throat, fiddling with her hood. "Since when do you hang out with Xavier?"

Kori's brow furrowed. "He err… gave me a lift yesterday, his house is near mine, apparently, and he offered to drive me to school…" She bit her lip nervously. "I did not think that it was such a big deal…"

"Not a big deal!?" Karen said, finally finding her tongue. "The whole school has heard about you knowing Dick and being great friends with him. I even heard that you hung out with his lot yesterday at that pizza place down town. And then you turn up today with a lift from his… his…"

"Mortal enemy?" Rachel offered, Karen just gave her a look that said 'WTF?'.

Wally cleared his throat. "Calm down Kar." He smiled at Kori. "You don't know about they're history. So don't worry. Besides, if you wanna be both they're friends you can…I suppose." He chuckled. "You just have to be very careful."

Karen raised an eyebrow. "Why are you in such an accepting and preach-y mood?"

"He totally got laid last night." Rachel murmured, smirking.

Wally turned to her, taking a deep breath. "I. Did. Not. Get. LAID!" He yelled, blushing slightly when a group of girls walked passed him, giggling. "Your fault." He said to Rachel.

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is -"

"Hey!" They both looked at Karen. "Have you guys seen Garth?"

Rachel glared at Wally once more before sighing. "I thought you walked with him?"

"Well, yeah. But he had practice this morning, so he comes in early… He's usually out by now…"

Wally wrinkled his nose. "We'll be late for registration if we go all the way to the pool now."

Rachel seemed to think. "Gar!"

Her friends looked at her in surprise as she called to the hooded boy. He grinned as he walked over. Karen raised an eyebrow at his 'save the animals' hoodie, thinking his animal obsession had taken a step up.

"Dude, Rae, I've been looking for you everywhere!" This made her friends even more surprised.

"…Why?" She asked suspiciously. His grin turned sly.

"Well, you remember yesterday, you said for me to do something with my hair?" Rachel nodded, a 'this cannot end well' feeling in her stomach. "Well…" He tugged down his hood, revealing his head.

Rachel stare and then blinked hard. It was still there. "You… you… what did you do?!"

He ran a hand through his hair, not noticing the way everyone around him stopped and stared. "Like it?"

"It… it's _green_!"

His hair was indeed green. Every blonde lock was now a deep green, in the light it seemed a very green-turquoise while in the shadows it would probably turn very dark. It went very well with his eyes, though his eyebrows were still blonde and created a weird look.

"Heh, yup. Took me forever to find green hair dye. But you didn't answer. Do you like it?"

She made an odd noise, a sort of shocked sigh. She raised a hand to pull at a few strands. "I guess… it actually kinda suits you…"

His eyes shone. "I thought so too! My Dad went nuts, it was hilarious!" He chuckled at the memory. "Ah… so what's up?"

Rachel shook her head as a way to force her gaze from his hair to his face. "You're on the swim team right?" He nodded and realisation dawned on her friends faces. "Was Garth at practice this morning?"

Gar paused. "No, actually. Which is odd, ya know? He never misses a chance to get in the pool."

Kori bit on a nail. "Perhaps he is already at registration?"

Karen shook her head. "Na, he hates his teacher and would never go in early."

Wally's eyes searched the front of the school grounds. "Then where is he?"

* * *

_They were in a class room. Why they were in school at all, he had no idea but he recognised the room to be one of the study rooms in the library. They were on opposite sides, though due to the smallness of the room they were still quiet close, with the table to the right and the heavy windowless door on the left. There were no window's, the lights above them being the only source of light. _

_Garth glared. Roy glared back.__ Black eyes met green through narrowed lids and the archers light red eye lashes. Both looked away, turning their death-stares to different corners of the room. Garth watched Roy out of the corner of his eye as the other boys leaned against the wall, closing his eyes with a sigh._

_Without realising it, Garth found himself moving, the thick carpet making his footsteps completely silent. Roy didn't notice that he was getting so close, even when he pressed a hand on either side of the boy, trapping him. Garth let out the breath that he didn't realise he had been holding, the feel of his breath seemed to hit Roy, as green eyes snapped back open. _

"_We need to do something about this, Harper." Garth was surprised at the intensity in his voice, he was even more surprised at the words that were coming out of his mouth, he had no idea what he was talking about. __"We wont get anything done if we cant even look at each other without wishing the other would keel over and die."_

_Roy tilted his head, obviously confused. Garth was too, he didn't understand what he was saying. Do something about what? Get what done? He looked at Roy, wondering if he was making any sense to the red head. Roy was breathing hard and it made Garth realise that he too was breathing through his mouth, breathing more ragged than usual. _

_The boy's eyes met and something passed between them, like a realisation except Garth didn't know what they were realising. They're breath hitched, Garth's becoming as frantic as Roy's. Unable to stop himself, his hand lifted shakily, slowly coming closer to the other boy's face. Roy's skin was warm under Garth's cool fingers, his hand moved down the boy's cheek in a caressing motion, sliding down to curl at the back of Roy's neck._

_Garth's black eyes widened as Roy's arms slipped around his waist, gently coxing him closer before their breath intermingled and their lips met. Garth couldn't breath at all now, he seemed to have forgotten how to due to the unresolved passion in the soft kiss. In an attempt to get some air, Garth tried to gasp but only managed to sigh. Roy made a sound too, a slight whimper._

_At this sound, the boys parted from they're light kiss, trembling slightly. __Garth's other hand came up to run through orange hair, threading through the well placed strands carefully, as not to move them from their spots. __Their eyes met one again as Roy lent in to rest his forehead against Garth's. Amazed by the intimate action, Garth parted his lips in a soft whisper._

"_Roy…"_

"Roy?!"

Garth sat up, clapping a hand to his mouth. Mortified at not only his dream but by his calling out of the boy he supposedly hated. Panting, he lent back against his pillows making his water bed ripple slightly, closing his eyes and trying to steady his breath. Flashes of the dream danced in front of his eye lids and he forced his eyes open again. Glancing at the time, he swore loudly and colourfully. Not only had he missed practice but he was late for school too.

Jumping out of bed, he immediately started to get ready while making a mental note to have a shower that night. He quickly changed into some black jeans and a blue top, thanking the gods that he was a neat freak and had a relatively organised wardrobe. He ran a comb through his long hair and pulled it back into a lose pony tail while trying to collect his books and shove them into his bag.

Briefly wondering how he was going to get out of the scolding he was bound to receive for missing practice, he ran out his room and down the stairs. Not bothering with breakfast despite the knowledge that he would regret it later, he stalked out the door, slamming it slightly and cursed as he started a hurried pace to school.

'_Damn seductive Roy!'_

* * *

The teacher stopped talking as a shy knock interrupted him. Letting out a loud 'Come!' the door opened to show Garth, looking embarrassed. This friends raised their eyebrows from their table as the teacher scowled. 

"How good of you to join us." Garth flushed.

"Sorry, Mr. Blood." He murmured, trying to avoid the eyes of his teacher, his friends and Roy Harper who were all watching him.

Blood, the teacher, sighed. "Just sit down, please. I have something to tell you all." Garth moved quickly, taking his place in between Wally and Rachel who both shot him a look he ignored. "You will all be starting a project -" There was a collective groan. "- In which you will work in partners -" Another groan. "- I have the list here, you were put in pairs by Principle Wilson himself."

Richard swore, making Roy, who had only just torn his gaze from Garth, look at him with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

"You realise that Wilson not only tries to put people with guys they hate but also loves to torment me?"

Roy snickered. "Dude, you are so doomed." Dick threw a piece of balled up paper at him and Roy returned the assault. Soon paper was flying and once Dick had run out of ammunition, he choose to punch his friend in the arm. This did nothing but start a friendly play-fight, which Blood quickly put a stop to.

"Honesty, boys, how old are you." Both retorted immaturely by sticking their tongues out in union. Blood rolled his eyes as the whole class giggled. "Right, as for your work partners…" He looked at Dick. "You, Richard were supposed to be grouped with Xavier Red, but he moved classes… Instead you can be paired with Miss Anders." Dick's head snapped round to look at Kori, who gave a forced smile. Both knew this would be awkward.

Gar snickered and Blood turned to him, shutting the boy up abruptly. "…" The older man stared at Gar's hair before shuddering and continuing. "You, Mr. Logan, will be with Miss Roth."

Gar blinked and tilted his head, looking like a confused puppy. "Roth? Who's last name is Roth?" Garth threw a balled up piece of paper at him, hitting Gar on the head and making the boy turn and look at him. He pointed wordlessly at Rachel who raised an eyebrow at the green-haired boy. "Oh…"

"The next person who throws paper will go straight to Principle Wilson!" The teacher said loudly glaring at Garth. "You," He said to the swimmer. "Are paired with Mr. Harper." Both boys froze, paling considerably. Their gaze met from the corners of their eyes and they flushed while their friends snickered, unaware, at their misfortune. Wally laughed the loudest, as always, and lent back in his chair as he continued to.

Blood turned to Wally. "Mr. West will be with Mr. Stone." Wally's laughing was cut of by a small 'eep!' as he lost his balance and went crashing to the floor. The room collapsed into laughter, which was quickly cut off by the teacher slamming a ruler to the wall. Wally carefully got back to his feet, one hand rubbing his head, the other his butt. Behind him, Jinx tilted her head, pink eyes practically glowing with joy at the view. Settling back down into his seat, Wally's eyes flew across the room to meet Vic's. The boy's eyes narrowed and Wally gave a nervous chuckle before turning away. Next to him, Karen patted his back.

"Too bad, Wally."

"Karen?" The girl's brown eyes shot up to look at the teacher. "You'll be with Jinx." Karen mouth fell open and she twisted in her seat to stare at the pink haired girl who was looking equally disgusted with the pairing.

The list went on like this, some lucky people being partnered with their friends while the others cursed their misfortune. Finally all paired - Excluding Jade, Kitten and Terra who would be a group of three once Terra came back from Principle Wilson's office - the students all moved to sit next to their new partners.

"Now, you'll have to do research before you start your project… There are three spare study room's in the library, so three pairs can go to them for the rest of the lessen." He paused, eyes flying down the list. Let's see… Rachel and Garfield…" The two nodded and picked up their bags before walking out quickly. "…Wally and Victor…" Victor snatched up his bag and stalked out, not bothering to wait for his partner, who was whimpering at the prospect of being in a room alone with the other boy. "And… Roy and Garth." Roy scowled while Garth shrugged, they walked out in silence, staying as far away from each other as possible.

**AN: A very boring chapter, I know. The only fun thing was Garth's POV of the dream, which is about to bcome very important :D But the next one should be more… interesting. :evil laugh: Not much to say, really. Thanks to everyone who's reading and a special thanks to those who have reviewed. :gives reviewers a cookie:**

**Hope you liked, R n R, if you please.**

**x**


	6. Dirty habits and bitchy rants

**Disclaimer: If I owned TT the show would be **_**very**_** different.**

**AN: Richard and Kori used to be best friends before she moved away. Coming back several years later to join him in high school, she finds that time changes people. AU.**

**Warning: Extreme language, drug references, smoking and sexual hints from this chapter on. Me thinks I should change the rating, ne?**

**Chapter 6: Dirty habits and bitchy rants.**

They had already collected their books and were now in the study room of the library, they had been for ten minutes and yet neither had made a move towards the book-filled desk on the right. The two boys were on opposite sides, but due to the smallness of the room they were still too close for comfort.

Garth and Roy glared at each other; black eyes meeting green through narrowed lids and eyelashes of clashing colours. The realised at the same time that they were both staring and quickly turned their heads, focusing their glares on to different corners of the room. Roy sighed and lent on to the wall behind him, closing his eyes while Garth watched out of the corner of his eye.

Garth resumed his glaring at the other boy; they were meant to be working, not relaxing! …Not that he could relax with the red-head so close. Feeling suddenly annoyed, he moved silently on the thick carpet towards the lazing boy. Roy didn't seem to notice him, even as he lent on the wall and trapped the other boy with a hand on either side of his shoulders. He only noticed when Garth let out a long breath, the hot air hitting Roy's face.

Green eyes snapped open to look startled at Garth, who glared and growled his words out.

"We need to do something about this, Harper." Both boy's suddenly shivered involuntary, the lowness of Garth's voice pushing all other thoughts from their minds. "We wont get anything done if we can't even look at each other without wishing the other would keel over and die."

Roy cocked his head. What was the swimmer on about? Garth looked confused too and then they both remembered the project that they were supposed to be doing. Their eyes flicked to the pile of books before returning to one another's faces. Then their eyes met again.

They were both simultaneously hit with a blast of recognition at the scene. Both had seen it in their dreams and the sudden realisation passed between them. Knowing what to do, Garth raised a hand from the wall to lightly touch Roy's warm cheek before sliding his hand down to curl around the archer's neck. Roy reacted in the same way as he did in the dream, slipping an arm around Garth's waist and pulling him closer till their lips met.

It was better than the dream, softer, lighter, more passionate and tender. Despite knowing it would happen, Roy was surprised when Garth sighed into his mouth and couldn't repress a whimper.

It was several moments before they forced themselves to pull away for air. Garth moved the hand not on Roy's neck to thread through the orange strands, not moving them from their places. Smiling softly, Roy leant forwards to rest his forehead against Garth's and the boy opened his mouth.

"Roy…"

"Roy!" The boys snapped apart as someone knocked on the door. "Garth!"

Garth blinked, mind hazy. "…Wally…" He murmured walking to the door and pulling it open. The red-headed boy on the other side grinned at them.

"C'mon. The bell went, didn't you hear it?" Numbly, the both shook their heads and Wally shrugged. "Ah well. It's break, at last!" He bounced on his heels, looking at Garth. "Dude, I have so much to tell you!" Grabbing the swimmer's wrist he pulled him out the room and down the hall yelling a 'Talk to you later, man!' over his shoulder to Roy.

Roy remained silent, staring.

Garth, however, was much more vocal at being forced from the other boy. "Dude!" He yelled as Wally threaded them through the crowded hall. "What the fuck are you doing?!"

Wally stopped, half turning to raise an eyebrow. "Two things: One, don't screech. It's girly even for a gay guy. Two, I'm just making sure you two don't rip each other's heads off." He shook his head. "God knows what Wilson was smoking when he decided to put you together." Facing forwards he took a few steps quickly before coming to a halt again. Garth walked into him, swearing loudly as he collided.

"Wally? Why the hell did you -" Another voice, higher and more pissed than his, cut him off.

"Gar!" The two boy's looked over as a small blonde girl stood dumb-struck in front of her boyfriend. Gar, who had just come out of his study room, ran a hand through his now-green hair.

"Heh. Hey Terra. What's up?"

Terra's blue eyes blinked. "…What the hell did you do to you're hair!" She hissed venomously. Gar winced.

"Err… I dyed it. Like it?"

"It's green." He just nodded and she stared at him. "Where in the name of God did you get the idea to dye you're hair -"

Rachel chose that time to follow Gar out of their study room, pulling her coat on. She paused at the scene, raising one thin violet eyebrow to question it. Terra just narrowed her eyes at the girl.

"Now it makes sense…" She murmured. "Rachel."

Dark eyes gleamed. "Terra."

"Bitch."

"Whore -"

A soft cough stopped the conversation as Principle Wilson walked through the crowd that had gathered to the girls and Gar. Terra's face dropped and paled while Rachel scowled. Slade Wilson had a tendency to favour students and Terra was one of them but she was terrified of him. He hated Rachel, however, because her Father and he never go on.

"Is there a problem girls?"

"No, sir." Terra said quickly, wanting to leave.

He eyed Rachel until she sighed. "No, sir." She mumbled.

He paused. "I think you're lying, girls. I believe there is a problem… there always is with -" The singular eye scanned the crowd. "- Certain students. Maybe we should have a little chat?"

"That wont be necessary." The hall's eyes snapped to the school's president, Richard Grayson, as he made his way to the small group. "There's no problem."

The Principle's one eye narrowed, cursing he day he allowed Richard to be president. "You think, Mr. Grayson, that you can handle this situation?"

Richard's eyes flew to Terra and Rachel before meeting his Principle's. "Yeah. I think I can."

The man took a deep breath to calm himself before nodding, smiling to unnerve the students. "Very well. See that you do." With that, he turned from the group and walked away, most probably back to his office. There was along silence before Terra, glaring at Rachel once more, turned on her heel and stalked away. Gar ran a hand through his hair and glanced at Garth with a weak smile.

"Dude, I'm starting to understand why you don't do girls anymore."

Wally laughed as Garth rolled his eyes, grabbing his hyper friend by the arm and pulling him through the hall.

"So," He said, still irked at the red-head. "What happened with you and Vic?"

Wally broke free of the hard grip and bounced forwards to walk next to Garth, grinning widely. "He's not going to kill me!" Garth chuckled.

"So he didn't pound you… what _did_ you two do then?"

Thin shoulders shrugged. "We talked."

'_Looks like they didn't do any work either…' _Garth didn't say that aloud though, instead he asked, "Does he know about you and Jinx?"

The runner hesitated. "I don't think so… He knows something's going on but I spared him the details, obviously." Wally stopped and lent against the wall, bright blue eyes searching the empty hallway before he spoke again. "He told me to be careful, he got mixed up with Jinx's gang before and got into some trouble. He told me not to get involved with them; even if it means not being around Jinx."

Garth nodded. "Good advice. Me and Karen would have said the same thing probably. Speaking of which, we should go find her, Rachel and Kori."

* * *

"Terra! Wait up!"

The blonde girl slowed to a stop, turning to watch Dick as he caught up with her. "What?"

He scowled. "Hello! I cant deal with you and Rachel if your not in the same room!"

Terra turned, flicking her hair over her shoulder as she started walking again. "That's the idea, I don't want anything to do with her."

Dick groaned and followed her. "I know, but if you two could just be civil to each other for the next few days -"

"Why are you telling me this! Tell her!"

The dark haired boy took a deep breath to keep his self control. "I will, but since you're my friend I thought it better if I talk to you first, Ok?"

Terra sighed, turning a corner to make her way to their usual hang out spot. "Fine, fine. I cant be friends with her though, Dick!"

"I'm not asking you to." He held up his hands in a sign of peace. "Just try and stay away from her for a while, 'k? And I'll tell her to stay away from you."

Terra paused. "And Gar. I want her to stay away from Gar."

He shook his head. "They're partners, I cant do anything about that."

The blonde growled. "Fine. I'll deal." She was rewarded by a grateful and easy smile.

"Thank you."

They stayed in silence for the next few seconds as they came to a group of people lazing around a few benches. The crowd shouted their hello's to Terra and Dick and the two responded with a wave as they walked over and sat down.

Dick paused halfway in dropping his bag to the floor. "Where's Roy?"

The crowd's eyes slide to jade who shrugged. "He came over a little before you two, looked kinda freaked. Said he needed to 'calm down'. Ran off before I could answer."

Dick's blue eyes narrowed dangerously at her, the air around the gang immediately turned uncomfortable.. "Roy's been acting odd lately. You know anything about this?"

Jade raised an eyebrow, not liking Dick's tone. "Me? Of course not."

"The last time he was acting out of it," Dick continued, standing to glare down at the girl. "You knew why and kept it to yourself."

"Don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, you know exactly what I'm talking about." Dick hissed at her. "If I find out he's doing _that_ again, I'll be coming straight to you."

Jade stood as well, bring herself up to her full height. "I don't like your attitude, Grayson."

Dick lifted his chin, standing his ground on the knowledge that he could take her down in a fight. "Deal with it."

With that, he turned his back on her and stalked off, grabbing his bag on the way, to the back of the school. Jade sat back down, acting as though nothing had happened. The others shifted uncomfortably, all avoiding her eyes except Vic. He knew exactly what Dick had been talking about and held her eye as he stood to follow his friend.

"Dick!"

The boy slowed to allow Vic to catch up with him. "Hm?"

"You… You don't really think that Roy's starting again do you?"

Dick shook his head. "No. Not when I think about it… I mean, he's acting different than last time isn't he?"

Vic nodded. "Yeah, before he was all snappy and having some serious mood swings. Now he's just distant."

"Exactly. But, you can never be to sure. We got it out of him last time by asking him openly, so that's what we'll do this time; ask him straight out, 'are you back on the drugs?'"

They stopped when they were between the girl's toilet and the boys. There was a small gap between the two buildings and on the other side of the gap was a small courtyard that none of the teachers and most of school didn't know about, it was the perfect place for students to smoke and hide out when ditching class without getting caught. Dick paused, not really wanting to go in, before taking a deep breath and slipping into the gap.

It was ten steps before Dick reached the other side and the smell of smoke hit him hard. He wrinkled his nose as he came out of the gap and moved forwards to let Vic in as well. The boy just fitting through due to his large muscled frame. The gang of people looked up as they came in, some going back to their business and other staring as Dick - who had never smoked in his life - and Vic - who hadn't been seen smoking for way over a year - made their way to a corner near the back of the secret courtyard.

They spotted Roy's orange hair easily, he was sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall. Next to him was Kyd, the pale boy looked up as Dick and Vic walked over and he nudged Roy. The boy looked at Kyd, who pointed up at the two boys. Roy's green eyes travelled up.

"Shit." He said, smoke coming out his mouth as he spoke.

"'Shit' is right." Dick snarled, reaching down to yank his friend to his feet. "What the hell, Roy! I thought you were quitting!"

"I was thinking of quitting." Roy corrected him, putting the cigarette in his mouth so he could brush the dirt off his rear. "Big difference."

Vic rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He looked down at Kyd. "Man, why'd you let him do it when you know we hate him doing it?"

Kyd shrugged and signed to the boy. Seymour, from a few feet away, watched his friend sign.

"He says 'why shouldn't I let him, it's his decision if he want to or not.'." Seymour told them. "He has a point-" He paused as Kyd signed something to Roy. "You owe him a cig."

"I know." Roy said, taking the last drag of the bummed cigarette before dropping it to the floor and stepping on it. "Thanks, man." He turned to Dick. "Now, what's wrong?"

"It's a dirty habit, Roy! You were so close; how long has it been since your last one? Four weeks? Six? You were doing so well!"

The red-head shrugged. "I was feeling stressed and now I feel so much better." He raised an eyebrow. "Would you rather I went back to the you-know-what?"

Dick snarled at Roy and grabbed his friend's shirt and forcing him into and through the gap. Vic followed quickly, not comfortable with his old friends.

* * *

When Rachel met up with Karen and Kori, the former was ranting loudly about Jinx. Kori was nodding silently, looking rather frightened as she had never seen Karen like this. Karen didn't even notice Rachel as she walked up to them and sat next to Kori under the shade of a tree and watched her friend yell and swear while walking back and forth. Kori smiled weakly at Rachel as she sat.

"She's been like this for over ten minutes… What do I do?"

Rachel paused, then she tilted her head to look around Karen at a non-existent person. "Hi, Vic."

Karen's ranting stopped abruptly and she span on her heel to look for the boy. She scowled and blushed when she saw that there was no one there and turned back to her now smirking friends.

"Not. Funny."

Rachel arched an eyebrow. "I disagree. Anyway," She continued before Karen could yell. "You were boring us with your rant. What happened in the class room?"

Karen pouted and flopped down opposite the two, only just in the shade. "Me and Jinx had an argument, obviously."

Kori giggled. "They spent half the lessen yelling at Mr. Blood and the other half yelling at each other."

Violet eyes rolled. "That's nothing new. What about you and Dick? You got partnered together, yes?"

The girl blushed slightly. "Yes… We were fine. We talked; he apologised for offending me, I apologised for letting my anger get the best of me and we made up. No harm done."

"Mmmm… And what does Dicky-boy think of your choice of boyfriends?"

Kori's blush deepened. "…You mean Xavier?"

"Bingo."

"He is… not fond of the idea of me spending time with me but he is willing to except it and not push me to choose between them."

"Hm," Rachel looked impressed. "He seems the type to go insanely overprotective."

Karen smirked. "He probably is, he just doesn't want to push Kor into the arms of Red." She nodded wisely. "Smart boy, that Grayson."

Rachel snorted, waving an arm lazily over Karen's shoulder to two figures. "Yeah, whatever. The boys are here."

Karen tilted her head to see Wally and Garth, upside down to her, walking towards them. When they were in speaking distance, she called, "Hey Garth, Wally! You're not dead then, track-star?"

Wally shook his head, hair flying, as he reached up to the tree and lifted himself to lay on one of the branches. "Nope, I live to see another day."

"Unfortunately." Garth smirked as he slumped against the tree under Wally. His stomach made a noise as the others laughed and he groaned, hugging it. "God, so hungry! You guys got anything to eat? Preferably chocolate? I missed breakfast."

Rachel scowled while Karen, Wally and Kori searched their bags. "Then you shouldn't have been so late. You missed practice."

"I know… I'm gonna make it up to coach by training this afternoon." He looked at Karen. "C'mon, you've always got some sort of chocolate on you."

"Nuh-uh, you and the twins ate it all last night. I aint got nothing for you to eat." She paused at looked at him nervously. "You weren't late because I made you help sit the twins, were you?"

He shook his head. "Na, don't worry. I just overslept." His mind drifted back to his dream and then to what had happened that morning. It was so creepy hat he saw it before it happened. The boy shivered involuntary.

"Garth? Garth!"

Garth looked up to see Wally waving a chocolate bar over him. He let out a yell of delight and caught the sweet as it fell.

"Ah! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He opened it quickly and took a bite, moaning. "Oh, you're a life saver, Wally!"

The red-head chuckled. "Whatever, just pay attention next time I'm saving your life. You totally zoned out and then shivered."

Garth swallowed heavily. "Hmm… I was thinking about a dream I had, the one that kept me in bed today…"

Kori cocked her head. "Nightmare?"

"Not exactly…" He murmured. The other peered at him curiously and he quickly changed the subject. "So, erm, you lot coming to my training today?"

Karen and Wally nodded, saying that they had nothing better to do. Rachel said that she would come if Wally swore not to shove her in the pool again. Kori, however, paused to think.

"I'm not sure. I only moved into our new house a few days ago and I still have to unpack most of my things." She wrinkled her nose. "I've been putting it off because I'll have to set the furniture up before I do. Not exactly looking forward to it."

Wally's face appeared in front of her as he hung upside down from the tree, holding onto it by his legs. "Easy! You come to Garth practice and we'll head to your house after and help you set up your stuff."

Kori's eyes went wide. "You'll help me set up my furniture and unpack?" She looked round Wally's head to see the other three nodding. She squealed and clapped her hands together. "Thank you!"

Rachel waved a hand as Wally pulled himself back up to the tree. "It's hardly a problem Kori."

"Yeah," Garth put in, winking at Kori. "What are friends for, eh?"

The group laughed as they continued to make plans. After a few calls to parents and a sister, it was decided that, after Garth's practice, they would all head to Kori's and work on her room. They would stay for dinner and watch a movie before getting picked up. Just as Wally confirmed that his Uncle didn't mind him going, the bell went.

"Right!" Karen said, standing and picking her bag up. "Meet ya'll by Garth's and Kori's lockers. See ya!"

**AN: God. So overdue! I know and I'm sorry. I really didn't mean for it to take this long but what with college interviews and hospital appointments…it sort of got out of hand. My apologies, I hope you can forgive me. I swear, the next chapter will be up soon!**

**I like how I slipped in characters in this one. Rachel's father, Wally's uncle - who would actually be The Flash, if I'm correct - Garth's coach - which would be Aquaman - … god, I'm sad lol.**

**And Kyd Wykkyd got a scene! I love him, he's so cool XD.**

**Anyway, sorry again. I'll start on the next one ASAP to make up for it.**

**R n R, if you please.**

**x**


	7. Oh god, the fangirls!

**Disclaimer: If I owned TT the show would be **_**very**_** different.**

**AN: Richard and Kori used to be best friends before she moved away. Coming back several years later to join him in high school, she finds that time changes people. AU.**

**Warning: Extreme language, drug references, smoking and sexual hints from this chapter on. Me thinks I should change the rating, ne?**

**New character!**

**Toni Monetti is Argent.**

**Chapter 7: Oh god, the fan girls.**

The first thing Karen did when she and Kori arrived at their Geography lessen - only a little late - , was grab a piece of paper and rip a large square off. Kori watched, curious, as Karen scribbled a quick sentence on to it and folded it up. Writing a name on it, she waited till the teacher wasn't looking to throw it across the room and hit Vic on the head. She blushed as he turned to look at her before looking down at the note's name and passing it on, looking a little irked.

Roy stared at the note as Vic passed it to him. Looking at the other boy in confusion, who just shrugged, before twisting in his seat to look at her. Karen narrowed her eyes at him, silently telling him to read and reply if he wished to see the next day. Scowling, he turned back to read the note. Seconds later, he went bright red and then paper white so fast that Kori was sure he would pass out from lack of blood. He didn't, instead he wrote back and threw it to land on Karen's book.

Kori jumped when a note of her own fell into her lap. She looked around to see Dick grinning at her. Smiling back she opened the note to read it when another fell in front of her. Taking another look around the class, she was surprised to see Xavier wave at her. He hadn't been in any of her classes yet nor had they spoken to each other since that morning. She grinned quickly before turning back to face the front.

The rest of the class was fairly boring, everyone passed notes while pretending to watch the movie put on for them and the teacher read a book while pretending not to notice the notes flying. Just twenty minutes to the end of the class, they were interrupted by a sharp knock on the door. The teacher, Mr. Light, blinked before placing the book down and calling out for them to enter. All the students hid their notes as Principle Wilson walked in.

"Sorry to interrupt," He said briskly, with an air of wanting to hurry. "We have a new student joining you from England." He motioned behind him to a young girl. "This is Toni Monetti."

Toni was a very pale, very thin, small girl with dark tastes. Her shortish black hair was spiky with two red streaks at the front that framed her small, darkly made-up face. She wore a short red and black skirt and a black corset-type shirt with tall black boots and long black fingerless gloves. A plain black bag and a bored expression completed her look and the class was left with the impression that she would rather be somewhere else.

Principle Wilson placed a hand on her bare shoulder and continued. "I trust you'll all be nice to her and help her fit in." He gave the class a warning look and, with a nod to Mr. Light, he turned and left - shutting the door firmly behind him. Mr. Light paused for a second before clearing his throat.

"Well, welcome Toni. We'll find you a sit, hm?" His eyes scanned the room and fell onto the empty seat next to Jinx. He hesitated, wondering if it was a good idea to put the new girl next to the punk. Figuring that they would get on well - and that there were no other seats - he pointed to Jinx. "Ah, here you are. You don't mind, do you Jinx?"

The pink haired girl eyed Toni, who replied with raising an eyebrow defiantly. Deciding that this was good enough, Jinx nodded and pushed her bag off of the seat to allow Toni to take the place. Mr. Light breathed a sigh of relief.

"Excellent. Now, on with the film?"

* * *

Wally was the first to get to the lockers, having had his English lessen in the room just across the hall from them. His own locker being in the same row, he had already dumped his books into it and was now slumped lazily against Garth's locker… Or Kori's. He forgot which was which. Eyes on the floor, he had resorted to counting the gum marks on the tiles while waiting. He didn't hear the footsteps approaching him, too caught up in trying to guess the different flavours, and only looked up when someone coughed.

Black heels, pink and black stripy tights and a long black shirt with a silver belt… '_Only one girl could make this work.'_ He thought, blue eyes meeting pink. He grinned, shifting to stand straight.

"Hey Jinxy."

"Wally." Her reply was cool, collected. She looked up at him under her eyelashes, the ends sparkling with glitter. The black glitter also covered her eyes, ending in dramatic points several inches along her cheek bones. "What's up, speedster?"

The boy bounced on his heels, leaning forward. "My heart rate." He quipped.

She giggled but was cut off by a sharp British tone.

"In which case, I don't want to know what else is up." Jinx raised an invisible eyebrow as Toni slandered past. "You must be Wally." She didn't stop and just raised a hand as she continued down the hall. "See you tomorrow, love." She called back to Jinx.

Wally opened his mouth but Jinx shook her head. "Don't ask. She's a new girl. Toni something-unpronounceable. I like her."

He grinned cheekily. "Actually, was gonna ask how she knew about me." Red eyebrows rose. "Been talking 'bout me, Jinxy?"

A soft blush ran across her cheeks, but that didn't stop Jinx from smiling wickedly and taking a step closer to the boy. A black painted finger pressed lightly against his chest and Jinx had to rise up on her tip-toes to make their noses touch.

"Don't get cocky, hero." She murmured, noting with satisfaction that his breathing hitched. Stepping away, Wally's body relaxed and slumped back against the lockers. She nodded and span on her heel, looking at him over her shoulder. "Later, Wally."

The boy replied with something that was a cross between 'Bye' and 'Oh dear god' in a whimper - which he would later refuse violently - and didn't even hear the clicking of Jinx's heels on the floor or notice the death-glares that Seymour sent him across the hall or how the boy slammed his locked shut and stalked away. In fact, the next thing he remembered was Raven waving her hand in front of his face.

"Hello?" Garth called into his ear. "Anyone there?"

The dark girl snorted, dropping her hand. "I doubt it." The two chuckled as Karen shut her locker and unscrewed a bottle of water. Kori gave it a curious look, green eyes widening a second later.

"I give you to the count of three." She warned and then quickly called out, "Three!" before splashing the water into the red-heads face.

Wally jumped, smacking his head into the lockers with a resounding crash. His friends winced as he howled, excluding Karen who calmly tightened the lid on her water.

"What the fuck, Kar?!" Wally yelled in between cursing her children's children and any type of god that there is. "I thought we were friends!"

The girl clicked her tongue. "Don't be dramatic." She scolded.

Garth tugged on his sleeve. "C'mon, man, you can whine while I'm two feet under water - if I'm late, Orin will feed me to the sharks, have no doubt about that."

Rubbing his head, Wally pouted. "Dude, he _loves_ you. Plus, he's known you since you were what, three?! He aint gonna kill you - or kick you off the team - anytime soon."

Garth shook his head, leading the other four out the doors and towards the inside swimming pool next to the gym. "You know how he feels about those… _stalkers_ crowding the area. If I thought it would help me or him in anyway, I might just kick myself off the team." He paused, throwing a sheepish smile over his shoulder. "Maybe."

The smell of chlorine hit them as soon as they opened the door to the building. Kori wrinkled her nose, she hadn't been swimming in a while and had forgotten how strong the smell could be. She followed her friends down the hall, the stink getting stronger as they neared the changing rooms.

Garth held a hand up as he opened the door marked 'Males.'. "I'll be two minutes." He told them.

"And your _sure_ I cant take pictures to sell to the fan girls?" Karen questioned, tilting her head. "I'll give you part of the profit."

A scowl passed the boys face and he shook his head wordlessly, stepping into the changing room and letting the door fall shut behind him. Karen pouted.

"Spoil sport." She mumbled.

Rachel scoffed, slipping down to sit and lean against the wall before reaching into her bag to pull out her maths book and then motioning to Wally. "My text book, please?" Cursing, the red-head scrambled around in his own bag to yank it out. Rachel took it with a nod. "C'mon and help me with algebra."

Wally whined. Kori shook her head with a smile. She liked her friends. They were so different to each other, to everyone. Rachel was beautiful and could fit in amazingly, but too dark and quiet; Wally was happy and overly kind, but too deep for most people; Karen was strong and a trend setter, but too strong willed to follow others and Garth was gorgeous and friendly, but too elegant and shadowed. Outcasts but by choice. And yet, she felt as though she fit in. It was weird but perfect. Feeling happy, the girl walked down the hall a little, to examine a board full of pictures she had seen on her way in.

Familiar faces flew out at her. There were several of Wally, him posing or caught mid-run; each with a caption underneath with his name and the date. A few of Garth, diving or swimming, and one of him sitting by the pool, looking up and blushing as he saw the camera. Karen was in some snap shots too, partaking in different team and solo events on what must have been a sports day.

Further down, Kori found Richards pictures. Kori wondered idly why he didn't tell her he was so interested in martial arts. Her eyes lingered on his, taking them all in carefully. Jade only had a few for the same sport as Dick, but they all captured her perfectly. Kori had to admit that she was beautiful, especially with that peaceful expression that covered her face while fighting. Kori blinked at Roy's pictures. She had no idea that schools even did archery. She eyed the dates; there was a large gap of almost a year. How curious.

Group shots were scattered; mostly of the cheerleader teams through the years. Kori spotted Kitten and Terra quickly and was surprised slightly to see Karen grinning at her in two. Kori opened her mouth to ask, when a picture of two cheerleaders caught her eye.

The two girls had an arm wrapped around one another each, their outside arms stretched out and gripping pom-poms, both smiling. Kori recognised the shorter, blonde one as Terra and the other…

Green eyes flew across the hall to stare at Rachel before darting back to the photo. Her hair was longer, just hitting below her shoulders, and a little lighter too but her eyes were unmistakable. They were wide and makeup free but just as bold and violet as they were now.

"Wow…"

A door opening startled her out of her staring contest with the pictures. She turned to see Garth pouting at Rachel and Wally.

"Homework?" He wrinkled his nose. "I wasn't _that _long."

Wally laughed and threw the text book up at Garth who caught it with a grin. Kori couldn't help but notice how his muscles flexed as he moved-

She flushed, turning her head to look stubbornly at the wall. Rachel, having stood up and placing her work book back into her bag, sided up to her.

"Calm down." She murmured, giving the taller red-head a small smile. "I know how it is."

Kori blinked, eyes darting from Rachel to Garth and back. "Y-you mean you-"

"I used to have a crush on him, yes." Violet eyes ran down the swimmers body. "I almost asked him out too, but then he told us that he was gay…" She shrugged. "It's still nice to have a look sometimes."

Kori giggled lightly. "What what about Karen?" She asked, eyes flying to the dark haired girl who was helping Garth to yank Wally up from the floor. "Does she… like to look?"

Rachel paused, starting a slow walk after the other three who were headed towards a set of doors. "No. She and Garth have been friends for a long time. When she found out I has a crush on him, she gave me 'The Talk." She shuddered. "Weird girl."

The two entered the swimming area, following Karen and Wally around the pool as Garth moved warily towards who Kori assumed was his trainer, Orin.

"Ah." They all stopped as Orin spotted Garth. "And so he appears! Just-" He glanced at the time, "- eight hours late for his morning training." Garth visibly winced, mumbling an apology. Kori watched, curious, as the blonde man's face softened and he moved closer to the teen to allow them to speak softly. A few moments later, Orin nodded, giving Garth a light tap towards the pool. He was frowning now, a crease settled on his forehead.

Wally snorted, moving towards a crash mat that was placed behind the metal bars and flopping down onto it. "See." He waved a hand as they followed him and settled down onto the mat. "I _told _you all, didn't I?"

Rachel shook her head. "Yes, yes. 'Lo and behold, we shall never question thee, Wallace West, again." She praised sarcastically as he pouted. She looked up. "You sitting down, Karen?"

The girl was still standing, narrowed eyes trained on Garth. As if feeling her watching him, he looked up. A shadowy look passed his face and he hesitated, nodding. Karen hummed distastefully, dropping herself next to Kori on the mat.

Rachel pulled a face. "Whatever." She muttered, pulling out her maths book again and holding her hand out for Wally's text book. As he groped around for it, Kori turned to the girl.

"I didn't know that you used to be part of the cheerleading squad." Rachel froze for a second, before giving a sharp nod.

"Mm. A few years back. How-"

"There's a picture, out in the hall, of you… and Terra."

Karen and Wally fidgeted, Rachel waved them off with her hand. "Yes." She paused for so long that Kori wasn't sure if she was going to continue. They waited, watching as Garth dove in. "Terra and I used to be best friends." She said suddenly. Kori's eyebrows shot up. Seeing the disbelief on her face, Rachel smiled. "Yeah, I know. Up till the year before last, me and her were inseparable."

Kori bit her lip. "Then why… why do you no longer get on?"

Rachel drew her legs to her chest, a thoughtful look on her face. "My mother left. She had just lost her job and was loosing faith. She needed time away and alone; so she left. My father became depressed, absorbed in his work. I was starting to withdraw, myself." Rachel didn't look sad, just accepting. "Then the rumours started. People were saying that my father was abusing my mother, and that's why she left." She looked at Kori, violet meeting green. "Terra started them. She made an offhand comment and it escalated. It wasn't… completely her fault, but it started the fight. One thing led to another and we drifted over the summer." Small shoulders shrugged. "We never made up."

Kori looked away. "I'm sorry…" She mumbled, Rachel smiled sadly.

"It's not your fault-"

"I meant for asking." The red-head shifted. "You didn't have to tell me…"

The smaller girl paused before laying a hand on Kori's tanned shoulder. "It's ok. Anyone would be curious; I wish they'd take that photo down. …Anyway," She continued softly. "We're friends, right?"

Green eyes went wide. "O-of course!" Kori was ecstatic. Rachel was so quiet and reserved, she obviously didn't let people in a whole lot so this was a huge step for their friendship. The two girls smiled at each other, their moment broken with a amused whistle from Wally.

"Here they come." He sang, grinning.

"They-?" Kori's question was cut off when she saw a gang of girls huddled on the opposite side of the pool. They all had they eyes on the pool, searching through the swimmers and waves; Kori wondered what they were looking for.

"There!" The shout was teamed with a hand shooting out, pointing to the end of the pool where Garth just happened to be re-surfacing. High pitched squeals followed the yell and Garth froze at the sound. A little away, Orin face-palmed. (1)

Kori stared as the girls started calling across to the now alarmed swimmer; saying how much they had missed him over the summer, how great he looked, phone numbers and email addresses. Then, without warning, they started yelling at each other. Fighting.

Rachel sighed, standing. "Garth!" She shouted over the girls; drawing the attention of some who glared darkly at her as Garth looked over. "How about we time how long you can stay under?"

The boy nodded, took a deep breath, looked over at the girls and dived under, barely giving Orin enough time to pull out a stop watch and start the counting.

Immediately, the girls started counting too, yelling the numbers and cheering him on - occasionally pausing to threaten Orin if Garth drowned. Kori twisted to stare at her friends; mouth opening and closing with no sound.

Wally nodded knowingly. "We know, Kor." He said soothingly. "It's weird and creepy and wrong."

"And you would want them?" She questioned, thinking back to yesterday. Blue eyes shot to the girls and Wally frowned.

"Well, no." He confessed. "I had forgotten how insane they were…"

Rachel grimaced at the group. "Why do they continue to fawn over him if they know he's gay? He's hardly secretive about it…"

The runner grinned cheekily. "Maybe they're yaoi fan girls?"

Karen rolled her eyes. "I wish we had never taught you that word-" She paused, mouth snapping shut.

Rachel raised a thin eye brow, following her line of sight. "Oh." She frowned. "What's he doing here…?"

Kori and Wally turned too, to see a boy shifting nervously and looking over his shoulder before scanning the area with green eyes.

"Roy?" Wally blinked, standing and cupping hands over his mouth to call him. "Ro-!" Karen slapped him upside the head.

"Hush." She hissed, eyes darting from Roy to the water and back. Bubbles floated up from the side nearest the door and then a dark head of hair broke through, gasping lightly. Orin called out his time, unaware, and Garth grinned, turning to collect applause from his friends. When none came he frowned, turning in the water to see what had caught their attention. Eyebrows shot up as he saw Roy.

The red-head met his eyes, mumbled something no one could have heard over the rush of the water and the screams of the fan girls, flushed and sped out.

The four pairs of eyes flew to Garth as he scrambled up the side of the pool, not bothering with the ladder, and stumbled as he ran - ignoring Orin's calls and the yells of the girls - to grab his towel and follow the boy he hated.

* * *

Wally frowned, moving from the metal bars to walk towards the door, only to be stopped once again by a serious faced Karen.

"Kar!" He scowled, pulling at the hold she had on his shirt. "They'll murder each other!"

The girl didn't answer right away, but sighed. "Fine. But _I'll_ go." She leant to grab her bag, brown eyes thoughtful as she threw it over her shoulder. "Garth'll be getting changed." She mumbled. "See you guys in a minute."

She made her way round the pool, ignoring the odd looks from Garth's fans. As she walked passed Orin, she met his eyes; he gave her a knowing look, letting her know that she wasn't the only one that Garth had informed about his earlier encounter with Roy or his feelings for the archer. She nodded, letting the doors swing close as she walked through.

Her intentions were to walk straight into the boy's changing room and demand answers but she stopped short when she saw Vic heading to them.

"Hey!" She called out, relieved when he stopped to turn to her, his lips twitching up to smile. "Err…I… didn't know you swam." She started, lamely.

Vic blinked and then shook his head. "Oh. No, I don't. Well, obviously, I _can_ and I _do _when we - err, me and my friends, I mean - go swimming but-" He flushed, cutting off his own rambling with a cough. "But, I was actually lookin' for the swimming coach." He motioned backwards to where the gym was. "We need a whistle and I was sent to see if he had a spare…" He put his hand on the handle and Karen - fearing what state the boy were in - shot her own out to stop him from opening the door.

"Orin's in there!" She nodded her head towards the swimming area.

"Oh."

There was a pause and then Vic cleared his throat again, cheeks darkening. "I'll need my hand back then…"

Karen looked down to where she still had his hand in a grip. She released it quickly, jumping back. "S-sorry."

He grinned. "No problem." Dark eyes went soft. "Definitely no problem." Karen almost missed the last mumbled part. She could feel her cheeks heating up.

"Right, well. I need… to check on Garth!" She nodded and he did too.

"Yeah. So, through here?" He moved towards the door, pointing.

She nodded again, then stopped for fear of looking like an idiot. "Yeah. Orin's the blonde guy. With the err… whistle." She finished, mentally slapping herself.

He chuckled and smiled again, pushing the door open and slipping inside. Karen let out a breath, trying to calm herself. Seconds later, she had regained her control and turned to face the door. Squaring her shoulders, she grabbed the handle and shoved it open, reaching to stop it before it banged against the wall.

Turning the corner, she wished she had let it slam as her brain tried to process what she was seeing.

Roy, pressed against the wall. Garth, pressed against him. Open mouths panting in between rushed and sloppy kisses. Pale hands in red hair. Strong arms wrapped around a thin bare waist. Garth was still wet, probably soaking Roy's shirt. Towel thrown to the side.

'_Thank god he has his swim shorts on.'_

"O-Oi!" She almost groaned at how high her voice sounded. The two snapped apart and Karen was delighted as Roy smacked his head on the wall and Garth tripped over his own feet.

'_Ha! Thank you, Karma!'_

Garth glared at her from the floor while Roy shifted his weight, avoiding eye contact and rubbing his head. The red head opened his mouth but was cut off by a voice outside.

"Karen? Garth?"

"Kori." All three whispered. Garth grabbed a bag Karen assumed to be Roy's and chucked it at the boy.

"Back door's that way."

Roy paused. He started towards Garth but then stopped as his eyes shot to Karen. He nodded, stumbled back and turned to hastily walk to his escape route. Once the door shut, Garth resumed glaring at Karen.

"What?" She pouted.

He shook his head. "Out." At her annoyed face, he motioned to himself. "I want to get changed."

"Oh." She chuckled nervously. "I'm err… Sorry for-"

"Yeah." He flushed. "Don't worry. And err…"

She cut him off this time. "Yeah, I know. I wont say a word." She moved towards the door but hesitated. "But… be careful, yeah?"

His eyes went soft and he smiled. "I know, Kar."

She nodded and yanked the door open, stepping out to stop short. Karen blinked. Kori's and Dick's heads snapped up to look at her.

The boy looked amused. "What were you doing in the boy's changing rooms?"

"Making sure _your_ friend didn't start something." She snapped. Kori shifted, uncomfortable.

"Roy-" She paused. "Roy isn't in there then?"

Karen shook her head, thanking god that she was a good liar, for Garth's sake. "Na. Garth's just getting changed. He'll be out in a minute."

Dick frowned. "Roy was here?"

"Hm." Karen hummed, feigning disinterest. "I think he was looking for Vic. Something about whistles."

"Oh!" That seemed to be a good answer as Dick nodded. "If they had waited around, I would have told them that we found one."

"Man, you're shitting me!"

The three turned to see Vic scowling, a whistle in hand. "I had to go through some crazy-ass girls to get this thing-"

Another door swung open. "Yeah, sorry about them." They turned to see Garth pulling a shirt over his head, bag and jumper in hand. Dick gave him a long look and, just as Karen opened her mouth to tell him off, he turned to face Vic.

"C'mon. They're all waiting."

Vic sighed, glaring at the whistle he held. "At least we have a spare." He mumbled.

As they left, Garth snorted at his friends; watching as their eyes followed the two boys movements.

**:flails arms wildly: Holy crap! An update? Me? On this fic? I CAN UPDATE?! :dies:**

**(1) - Dude, Orin face-palming LOLZ. **

**Lol, and I'm not flaming fan girls, being one myself and all, but some of us are freaking insane and make boys face palm.**

**I is sorry for the wait. 8D I can has forgiveness?**

**And OMG, I updated two fics in the same week?! Sign of the Apocalypse, anyone?**

**x**


End file.
